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"Gregorovitch, come," I dragged the wandmaker by the wrist to the other side of the room.
Before I began to speak, I cast a Muffliato to prevent Baradar from overhearing our conversation.
"I think Legilimens can only invade into someone's brain. I can only access Jabez's brain and his memories, but not Baradar's. I reckon it's because it's still Jabez's body, although Baradar was the one in control. And I think I heard Jabez's voice when I was in his brain. I mean, the real him,"
"Jabez? What did he say?" gasped Gregorovitch in shock, urging me to tell him more. The wandmaker did care about the young man a lot.
"I could only hear him say 'please, help me'. He sounded weak, as though he had fought for so long and was very exhausted. I'm not sure if the voice was only from his memory or it's really him trying to talk to me,"
"Assuming it's really Jabez asking for help, if I'm not mistaken, that means inside Jabez's body, there are two souls - one belongs to Akbar, one belongs to Jabez. And Jabez's soul is obviously suppressed by Akbar's," Gregorovitch speculated, fiddling his white beard.
"I thought Akbar's only controlling Jabez's body remotely, like using an Imperius Curse. What makes you think that there are actually two souls in Jabez's body?"
"Girl, it's obvious - Jabez still has his mind functioning with no problem. He could seize the precious chance to ask you for help, which means that he knows what's happening outside, even when the body isn't in his control. If he's like what you said, under an Imperius, he should be completely out of his mind,"
"If that's true, I suppose Akbar probably knows that Jabez has tried to seek help. That's why he forced me out of his brain once I heard Jabez's voice," I held my chin subconsciously when I was pondering before a certain scene I'd seen in Jabez's memory popped up in my head.
I continued, "I remember Akbar has told me that he and Jabez have a master-servant bond, bonded by some kind of ancient magic. Akbar being the superior, can control both Jabez's soul and body. I've seen the ceremony they had. Jabez, on his knees, had said something that I can't understand. Then, there's light coming out of his body and the white glow wrapped around the brothers' bodies, linking them together,"
"That's must be it. If we know what kind of magic it is, we may be able to save Jabez from Akbar's control."
❇
We didn't expect that Baradar would tell us anything about the "master-servant bond". Without any help from books, there's no way we could gain any knowledge of the ancient magic bond.
Speaking of knowledge, I thought of someone in particular. She's the library with flesh and blood. I hoped Hermione Granger could answer my questions.
I borrowed Gregorovitch's owl to send two letters, one to Hermione, the other one to Olayinka, both with the same purpose of asking if they knew anything about the ancient magic bond. Although Hermione was knowledgeable, I thought it's never a bad idea to ask for a localer's opinion. Besides, Hermione was in another continent, it's going to take so long for the owl to bring us a reply from her, while Olayinka who's living in the same desert could give us a much quicker response.
The next day, an owl brought us a small scroll of parchment. I could recognize the owl was owned by the Afghan lady. I untied the scroll carefully and found the illegible handwriting. It's indeed from Olayinka:
Y/N, I'm glad to hear that you're okay. About the "master-servant bond", my grandma has told me before. Have you ever heard of the "Arab slave trade"? It began after Muslim Arab and Swahili traders won control of the Swahili Coast and sea routes during the 9th century. Traders captured a lot of Africans and brought them to the coast.
Slaves escaping and revolting happened a lot, while masters paid money for their slaves but couldn't get the service they wanted. Therefore, in order to have complete control of their slaves, someone invented the bond, to prevent the slaves from running away or being disloyal.
It's rumoured that with the bond, the master could know whatever happened to their slave, they could see what their slave could see, hear what their slave could hear, etc. And in extreme situation, the master could even transfer a part of the soul to the slave's body, to control every single action of the slave. More than that, the bond was irreversible. The magic wouldn't wear off until one of the participants died.
However, no one knows how to cast this kind of magic nowadays, because, within the same century, the inhumanity and irreversibility of the bond caused a large slave revolt. To appease the slaves, magic books that recorded the bond were all burnt into ashes and the bond had been forever forbidden.
That's all I know about the bond. I hope it can help you. Let me know if you still have any question. Olayinka.
According to what Olayinka had told us, a part of Akbar's soul was transferred to Jabez's body and Gregorovitch's surmise of two souls living in Jabez's body was proved to be true. The bad news was that the bond between Jabez and Akbar was permanent, there's no way to break the bond unless one of them had died.
To break the magic bond between them and save Jabez, the only way was killing either one of them and of course between the two, we must choose Akbar. However, killing the master didn't seem possible at all because Akbar Baradar's body was located in Guantánamo Bay prison at the moment.
A part of the Akbar's soul has been stored in Jabez's body with the bond...
The more I thought, the more similar I found the case was to creating a Horcrux. A Horcrux was an object in which a Dark wizard or witch had hidden a fragment of his or her soul by committing murder.
Harry was once a Horcrux, carrying a fragment of Voldemort's soul. However, he's no longer one after he'd been hit by a Killing Curse. He wasn't dead because the curse killed Voldemort's soul instead of his own. If I wasn't mistaken, a Killing Curse can only kill one soul at a time. Using a Killing Curse on Jabez theoretically could kill Akbar's soul the way it killed Voldemort's, the only problem is we won't know which soul we're directing the curse to, there's a chance of killing Jabez in the process. We can't risk that.
"There must be other ways," I mumbled hysterically. "There must be other ways,"
Gregorovitch pat my shoulder encouragingly.
I tried to think differently and think with different point of views. However, I couldn't think of any feasible solution.
Feeling frustrated, I couldn't help but despairingly think - just kill both of them and pretend nothing happen: first the reachable Jabez, then the faraway asshole Akbar.
Wait, maybe killing Jabez is actually a solution.
"Gregorovitch, we have to kill Jabez," I said with a straight, serious face.
The wandmaker stared at me for a while, searching for signs of joking, but couldn't find any.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" he yelled angrily, pointing his wand at my face. He probably thought I was possessed just like Jabez.
Raising both of my hands in surrender, I expressed my view as fast as I could, "I didn't mean to really kill him, but fake his death to deceive the magic bond to think he's dead in order to break the link between them,"
He slowly lowered his wand and muttered a "sorry" before I further expressed my theory.
❇
"Gregorovitch, can you brew a Veritaserum potion? Just to prepare for the worst. When you've finished brewing, it's exactly a month later and I'll be back at that time."
This was the last thing I said to Gregorovitch before I returned to England. We didn't have much time left. The Taliban would discover their leader was missing very soon. The Confundus Spell could stall us some time, but not much.
I need to find Draco. I need his help.
As soon as I got off the plane, I apparated directly from Heathrow Airport to Draco's office. His assistant was reading the latest issue of Witch Weekly when I arrived. She hastily hid her magazine into her drawer and seemed to not expect any guest.
"How can I help you, miss?" she asked with a warm smile, trying to cover up the fact that she'd been slacking off.
"I'd like to see Mr. Malfoy."
"I'm afraid not, Miss."
"Please, it's urgent."
"No, I mean, Mr. Malfoy isn't here. I think he won't be back in the near future."
"Where is he?"
"He's now in St. Mungo's."
❇
I, in a mistimed outfit that's too thin for the weather, was shivering and dragging my legs along the way to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. My heart's aching terribly because of dread. I didn't expect Draco to be in the hospital without warning.
Once I arrived the hospital, I inquired a witch in lime-green robes about Draco's condition and where he was.
The healer took a look at her clipboard and simply replied, "Mr. Malfoy had a severe blood loss caused by a ruptured arteriole in his forearm. His condition is now stable after taking blood replenishing potion every hour for a week. Division of Artefact Accidents, Ward 6,"
Wondering what had happened to Draco, I strode to the room on the same floor worriedly. When I got there, I couldn't find any sign of the man with white-blond hair. I checked the room number again. It's Ward 6. I didn't go to the wrong place. Has he been discharged?
I asked the healer who's looking after at a patient with a broken leg in the same ward for Draco's whereabout. He checked his clipboard and informed me that Draco had been transferred to the fourth floor, to Ward 47.
The plague next to the staircase caught my eyes as I arrived the fourth floor: 4/F - Division of Spell Damage.
After taking a deep breath, I opened the door of Ward 47 and stepped inside. The notable white-blond hair came into sight easily. He's sitting on the farthest bed from the door, next to a window. His skin was so much paler than usual, almost as white as his hair. There were two men standing beside his bed. I was surprised that they had come to visit him.
"I can't believe that your standard has become so low, Malfoy," the red-head said grumpily.
"And I can't believe that your intelligence has become as low as a Troll, Weasley," the patient on the bed sneered.
"I should've known this! I should've known that there's should be something wrong if you're trying to act nice! I had high hopes for the McDonnell's because of you and you ruined my supposed-to-be fancy dinner!"
"Ron, I'd told you it's just a fast food restaurant but you insisted to have a try. By the way, it's McDonald's," the spectacled man with black messy hair tried to calm the man next to him.
However, he instead made the red hair become more agitated. "I thought a 'fast food restaurant' only meant 'a restaurant that serves the food fast'! I didn't expect that!" he raised his voice, causing other patients in the room to stare at him in astonishment.
"I shouldn't be surprised that your knowledge of Muggle culture is as little as the bulge in your pants," the blond mocked.
The red-head immediately threw himself at the blond. The blond was taken aback but a smirk quickly spread across his face as the spectacled man held the angry man back by the shoulders instinctively.
"Ron! He's a patient!"
"And uncivilized as werewolves," the pale man added.
"I'M KILLING YOU, I SWEAR!"
"Malfoy!" warned the man with black hair, pushing his friend towards the door, away from the provocateur.
The pale man was laughing uncontrollably at the conjoined men, who's walking past me clumsily without noticing my existence. After the men left the room, the laughing patient's gaze accidentally met mine. His laughter trailed off into awkward silence.
I forced a smile as I met his grey eyes, but they hastily darted away to break the connection in seconds. He turned away and seemed to be so interested in what's happening outside the window all of a sudden. I walked towards his bed slowly but stopped in my track as he talked.
"Leave,"
"Draco,"
"Leave," he repeated with a hint of plea in his voice. "Please."
Feeling heartbroken and unreconciled, I bit my lower lips hard to resist the urge to drop a tear. I turned around and left quietly, trying to keep the little dignity I had.
A tear escaped from my eyes once I stepped out of the ward. I rubbed it away hurriedly as someone called my name.
"Y/N, didn't see you coming. Come to see Malfoy?" asked Harry with a smile, his hand was still holding one of the redhead's shoulders.
"Yea, I'm a bit surprised that you guys have come to visit him," I squeezed a smile, trying to hide my sadness.
"Me too,"
"I dun really care about Malfoy. I'm here only to make him pay for what's he's done before his death. Ya know, he had one foot in the grave on his first day here," muttered Ron.
"Can I ask why Draco's here?"
"All I know is that he got stabbed into the forearm by a quill and the nib seemed to have caused some damage to his arteriole. The Healer said he'd lost one-fifth of his blood and been unconscious for several hours until the house-elf found him and sent him here. The poor creature blamed himself for that. He said he should experience the pain his master had gone through too and was about to stab himself with a quill before we stopped him," said Harry. "I thought you knew the whole thing better than me,"
"Yea, me too," I replied dryly.
Even Harry and Ron, who are supposed to be the "enemies", seem to know the whole thing better than me. Also, he looked so much happier when he had their company while every time he sees me, he looks angry. What am I to him?
I knew it's all because of the hate potion, but it's too frustrating. I wanted to give up. I hoped I could give up on him. But I couldn't. He's too important to let go of.
It had already been December. The temperature had dropped a lot within the month when I was in Afghanistan. Festive decorations could be seen almost everywhere. Everyone was in their warm coat with a big smile on their face, looking forward to the arrival of Christmas. Everyone, except me.
❇
A/N: This chapter is funny and sad at the same time. I'm so happy that I can include Draco in the main chapters again! I laughed so hard when I was writing the fight between Draco and Ron. I had so much fun writing the boys.
The title doesn't only mean the treatment Draco's having in the hospital but also the way Draco treated you.
It's 5am. But I still want to post a new chapter before I sleep. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter. Can't wait to read your lovely comments tomorrow.