A few minutes ago, many miles away from the Society for Magical Research.
The fog that had once drifted outside the Prime Minister's window was now drifting on a dirty river.
The river was winding, its banks overgrown with weeds and heaps of rubbish.
There was a huge chimney, a relic of an abandoned mill. It stood tall, gloomy and ominous.
There was no sound around, only the moaning of the dark river. There was no sign of life. Only a thin fox sneaked down the river bank and sniffed hopefully at the wrappers of a few fried fish and potato chips in the deep weeds.
Just then, with a soft poof, a slender figure with a hood appeared out of thin air beside the river.
The fox was stupefied, its wary eyes fixed on this strange new figure.
The figure seemed to be trying to figure out his position. After a moment, he walked forward with big, brisk steps, his long cloak rustling as it brushed against the grass.
There was another poof, louder than the first, and another figure with a hood appeared.
"Wait!"
At this moment, the fox was almost lying in the low bushes. When he heard this hoarse shout, he was even more frightened.
It jumped out of its hiding place with a whoosh and ran to the shore.
There was a flash of green light and a shriek, and the fox fell dead.
"It's only a fox," said a woman's scornful voice from under the hood. "I thought it was Auror. Sissy, wait!"
But the one she was chasing, who had only stopped to look at the flash of green light, was now climbing up the bank where the fox had fallen.
"Sissy - Narcissa - listen to me-"
The second woman caught up with the first and seized her by the arm, but she wrenched it away.
"Go back, Béla!"
"You must listen to me!"
"I've heard. I've made up my mind. Leave me alone!"
The woman called Narcissa climbed to the bank, where an old railing separated the river from a narrow, cobbled lane.
The other woman, Béla, followed at once.
They stood side by side, looking across the lane at the rows of old brick houses, whose windows were dark and lifeless in the night.
"Is this where he lives?"
Bella asked in a disdainful tone, "In the Muggles' trash? Surely none of our people have ever visited here- "
But Narcissa was not listening. She had slipped through a gap in the rusty railing and was hurrying through the lane.
"Sissy, wait!"
Béla followed, her cloak flapping behind her.
She saw Narcissa dart through a lane between the houses and turn into an almost identical street.
Several street lamps were broken, and the two running women were alternately illuminated by the light and shrouded in darkness.
Just as the woman in front turned another corner, the one behind caught up with her, and this time caught her by the arm. Narcissa, they stood face to face...
"Sissy, you mustn't, you mustn't," she said. "
"Even the Black Devil believed him, didn't he?"
"The Black Devil King must have … I believe … must have made a mistake."
Béla said breathlessly. She looked left and right to see if there was anyone around, her eyes blinking under the hood.
"Anyway, we can't reveal our plan to anyone. That means betraying the Black Devil - "
"Let go of me, Béla!"
Narcissa roared. She took out a wand from her cloak and held it in front of her face.
Béla just smiled.
"Sissy, how can you treat your own sister like that? You wouldn't- "
"There's nothing I can't do now!"
Narcissa said in a low voice, and there was a trace of hysteria in her voice. She slashed the wand down like a knife, and there was another flash of light. Béla immediately let go of her sister's arm as if she was on fire.
"Narcissa!"
But Narcissa had already rushed forward.
Béla rubbed her hands and followed her again, but now she kept a distance from Narcissa. The two of them walked deeper into the maze of abandoned brick houses.
Finally, Narcissa walked quickly to a street called Spider's Tail Lane. The tall mill chimney stood in the sky like a giant finger raised in warning.
She walked past broken windows nailed with wooden boards, and her footsteps echoed on the cobblestones.
She came to the last house, and a dim light came through the gap between the curtains of a room downstairs.
When Béla caught up with her cursing, she had already knocked on the door.
They stood together outside the door and waited, panting slightly, smelling the smell of the dirty river that was blown by the evening wind.
After a few seconds, they heard movement behind the door, and then the door was opened a crack. A man looked at them. His long black hair fell like a curtain on both sides, and in the middle was a sallow face and a pair of black eyes.
Narcissa pulled her hood back. Her face was so pale that it seemed to glow white in the night. Her long golden hair fell down her back, making her look like a drowning person.
"Narcissa!"
The man said, opening the door wider. The light fell not only on her, but also on her sister.
"What a surprise!"
"Severus," Narcissa whispered nervously, "may I speak to you? It's urgent. "
"Of course."
He stepped back and let her into the room.
Her sister, still hooded, followed, though she had not been invited.
"Snape," she said simply as she passed by him.
"Béla Trix," Snape replied. Snape replied. His thin lips twisted into a sarcastic smile as he closed the door behind them with a click.
They walked directly into a small living room, which gave off the feeling of a dark, soft-walled prison cell.
A room in an asylum or prison with padded walls to prevent the prisoner from hurting himself … The walls were filled with books, most of them with old black or brown leather covers. A single candle hung from the ceiling, casting a dim circle of light in which a frayed sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table were crammed together.
There was a desolate air about the place, as if no one lived there.
Snape gestured for Narcissa to sit on the sofa. Narcissa took off her cloak, threw it aside, and sat down, staring at her pale, trembling hands, which were folded in her lap.
Béla Trix slowly lowered her hood. Her sister was shockingly fair, but her skin was very dark, with thick eyelids and a wide chin.
She walked over and stood behind Narcissa, her eyes never leaving Snape.
"So, what can I do for you?" Snape asked, sitting down in the armchair opposite the sisters.
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