บท 71: Chapter 71. Flawed Control
I threw my head back in laughter at Carleton's last words. My laughter held no mirth, it was void of emotion.
"So let me get this straight, you ruined the life I struggled to rebuild for myself so that you could chase after some magical bling?"
Carleton's expression went serious. "Your deductions seem to be accurate."
"Why do you think I would help you steal my family's secret?"
The older man laced his fingers and rested his jaw on them. "I am afraid you will not be given a choice in the matter."
"Figures." I sighed before adding in a much colder tone. "I'll pass."
"As I said earlier, you do not have a choice in this matter, boy."
I looked up at the ornate ceiling, I knew I was innocent of all the charges thrown at me but I could have never imagined that someone like this was behind all of it.
Apparently, we had all been fighting invisible demons, or to put it more accurately, we had all been controlled like puppets on a string.
"Carleton?' I dropped my head to ask. "Who killed my family?"
I had wholeheartedly believed Wilkin's narration, he had been an eyewitness after all.
It was part of the reason I wanted to get to the bottom of the attacks on Hogwarts. Even though I had no direct connection to my dead family, it felt like the right thing to do plus I wanted to find out more.
Carleton had said something earlier that sparked my interest, he mentioned that neither the Ministry nor Death Eaters had been the cause of my family's death.
Then who exactly did it? Who killed off the Albeline family?
"Me, of course." Carleton simply said, his void was devoid of pride or smugness, he simply said it as a fact.
I dropped my head at his admission. "Ah, I see." I muttered in an empty voice.
"Osmond Albeline was annoying at best and he did fail the plan to steal information from the Ministry but it is not something the Death Eaters would murder him over." He explained although I didn't ask.
"And it was clear the Ministry was trying to hide the resurgence of Death Eaters. The war was just a year ago, you know? Everyone is big on keeping the peace."
I ignored him, staring at my crinkled pants instead. So the enemy had been working from the shadows this entire time.
"I hear you lost your memory? Do you want to hear about your family?" Carleton suddenly asked with a strange kind of excitement.
I was dealing with a straight-up psychopath.
-*-
Carleton didn't bother with an answer from Audric, forging right on.
"The first time I was introduced to Osmond Albeline was at a business dinner." Carleton reminisced wistfully. "He might be a failure as a Wizard but he had quite the eye for investing in Muggle-owned businesses."
"He was a severe man who spoke in a gruff tone and was terrible at socializing. His sweet wife however was starkly different from him, I almost felt bad about her death."
"They had two children, a daughter who just graduated from Hogwarts and you."
He stared across the expanse of his desk to the boy shackled to the chair, the boy had his head down, his black hair falling like a curtain over his face.
At first, he had been irritated to listen to the boy bite back at every chance he got but everyone had their snapping point.
It didn't matter how much bravery he had, it would be taken away.
"I have to admit your survival shocked me the most, because I made it certain that every single one of you was to be killed." Carleton said in a frigid voice. "Well, I suppose it is better for me that you are not. Unfortunately, I need an Albeline to get the gem."
"Before your death, you were pitiful, your academics were failing, you had no friends and your relationship with your family was just plain sad." He listed off cruelly. "But after you survived you became the model student, I also hear you amassed quite a following for yourself, if your family were still alive, they would have been proud of you know doubt."
Audric kept his head down, already thinking of ways to get out of this. He wished he had a recorder or something similar to take down Carleton's confession.
"My findings are correct, are they not?" Carleton asked rhetorically. "They are, of course, I have the perfect spy working for me." He answered his question, himself. "Tell me, how is Ji-hun doing?"
Audric stiffened at this. Ji-hun? Bak Ji-hun?
Bak Ji-hun was working for this madman? Why? There had to be a reason.
Carleton sighed when all he got from Audric was more silence. "I have had enough of these games, look up." He ordered sharply.
Audric slowly complied, there was no need to push Carleton more than necessary. He was already at a great disadvantage, worsening his odds would be a dumb move.
"One last thing," Carleton raised a finger like he just remembered. "Are you not curious about the exact manner in which your family died?"
Audric gave him a dead expression, Carleton just kept going on and on. What was the use of beating someone who was already down?"
"I feel the Ministry is too strict about the Unforgivable curses, what do you think?"
Audric watched the grown man have a one-sided conversation with himself, it wasn't fun to watch.
"Like right now, I plan to use the Imperius curse to get you to do my bidding, it eases things along you see and makes things less gruesome for everyone involved." Carleton rambled on, seeming to have so much he wanted to say that he didn't finish up with one before starting the next.
"I tried to steal the scroll many times but it was guarded well, eventually I was forced to use brute force." He explained in detail like he truly expected to hear Audric's opinion on how he went about torturing and killing off his family, with him included.
"The Cruciatus curse is very useful but it tends to wear down the mental state, a very unlikely result when you are trying to extract information." He continued. "The Muggles have it right in that aspect, pain can be a very useful tool."
Audric's expression did not change, it would explain why he felt like he had been stomped on by a crowd of angry people when he woke up.
"Now, enough small talk." Carleton rose to his feet. "I am quite skilled with the 'Imperio' charm you will soon come to find."
"Did you have a hand in the attacks on Hogwarts?" Audric asked before the chance to ask was lost.
Carleton looked thoughtful. "No, that is all the work of the pitiful group of Death Eaters holding onto the dying movement of a lost cause."
He brought out his wand and pointed it straight at Audric. "Imperio."
Audric's previously dark expression eased into one of pleasantness like he was about to break into a smile.
"Splendid, now all that is left is the preparation to get the gem into my possession." Carleton decided in a superior tone.
"Yes, sir." Audric answered even though a question wasn't posed to him, that creepily empty smile still on his face.
Carleton said down happily, he looked so pleased with what he had managed to accomplish, his chest swelling with pride like it might burst.
He could finally achieve his life-long goals.
-*-
I watched Carleton through a blank stare, my face was starting to hurt from plastering a fake smile on.
'You thought it worked, didn't you?'
Legilimency was useless on me, and the same went for the Imperius charm.
Pretending that I was under his spell was the only option I had but I had a couple worries, like how I would figure out what Carleton wanted me to do.
Legilimency was a possible option, if he wanted me to do something, even if he didn't say it, he would think about it.
Another worry cropped up, would Carleton realize that I was using Legilimency on him?
He hadn't noticed yet though and I was still in his mind.
On one hand, it would help me improve my Legilimency, on the other hand, I ran the risk of getting caught.
It wasn't like there were a lot of options on hand though, I would have to wing it till a path presented itself.
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