Harriet Potter and the Alpha in the Dungeon

Chapter 26 - Daddy to the Rescue

"Master Dacre is not here, and even if he was, he has no words to say to Severus Snape!" The elf shot back hatefully.

Severus watched the creature spit at his shoes in disgust.

"If Archichat is not home, then I will converse directly with his son, Elion. I'm sure you know him well?" Severus asked the elf, "A cruel boy with a penchant for violence and sickening thoughts?"

"Young master Dacre is not here either!" The elf snapped, "And even if he was, he would also have nothing to say to Severus Snape, the traitor, the scum! Severus Snape, the one who expelled the Dacre family from the noble school of Hogwarts, the center for-"

Severus interrupted the elf's tirade by testing his loyalty.

He understood dark minds and dark wizards well.

He felt certain that the savagery which Elion had previously displayed towards Harriet extended far beyond her.

Severus gazed down at the elf as he shrewdly asked, "-Surely both of your masters delight in tormenting you? The younger one even more so, I assume? Spoiled children.....of privileged families usually enjoy torturing your kind."

The elf flinched at the mere mention of his mistreatment.

Severus thought that he may have made a breakthrough for a moment before the elf snarled and stubbornly replied, "Disencan is loyal to the noble house of Dacre."

"And is Disencan loyal out of obligation....or love.....or fear?" Severus asked with a gentle, patronizing undertone in his low voice, "Can you call house Dacre noble when you know what your masters are capable of?"

Disencan grit his teeth at Severus while he idly rubbed his hands together.

Severus noticed the bandages on the elf's fingers and the bruises that covered his battered limbs.

Elion was behind Harriet's disappearance, Severus knew it, he felt it in his soul.

Besides, his tracing spells had led him to the Dacre estate.

He could come back with a warrant from the Ministry and demand to search the house, but the paperwork alone may not be processed for a week.

Severus had to find Harriet immediately!

He surmised that the fastest way to accomplish that was to consult the Dacre house elf.

"I've come here to find something of mine that's been stolen from me." Severus said to the elf in a quiet tone that was barely above a whisper.

His black robes swayed elegantly as he bent down towards the Dacres' servant while he continued, "There's an innocent woman that will meet a horrible, gruesome end if you refuse to assist me."

He would find a way to recover Harriet on his own if the house elf ultimately refused, but it would make everything simpler for Severus if he could gain the creature's cooperation.

House elves knew their masters' secrets, all of their secrets.

Disencan's expression of rage and distrust slowly melted into one of melancholy sadness as he stared up at Severus with hopelessness in his large eyes and confessed, "If Disencan speaks, Disencan will die."

Severus stared at the house elf intently while he asked, "Do you honestly believe that you have a chance of living a long life while you serve masters as vile as the Dacres?"

"Disencan has no choice in the matter, Severus Snape." The house elf answered with a sad but honest resolution in his tone.

Severus let out a sigh under his breath.