Thus, she couldn't help but boast a little in front of Narcissa, saying that Lucius was just a silly bag of money, and that she herself was the Dark Lord's right-hand aide, entrusted even with "that thing" by their master.
Bella restrained herself from revealing too many secrets.
At the same time, she didn't realize that with a new soft life at the Malfoy Manor, her sister's stance had quietly shifted.
Lucius soon learned about the conversation between the sisters, and he remembered something else—
Bellatrix's husband, Radolphus Lestrange, once, while drunk, unusually took off the mask of a loyal Death Eater and complained with a gloomy face.
"Lucius, you are much luckier than me... At least Narcissa always has her eyes on you!"
Radolphus took a big gulp of his drink and said with a cold smile, "What about my wife? She's murmuring his name even in her dreams. What am I? A robe to complement her pure-blood identity?"
"Bella is just particularly loyal," Lucius said insincerely. "Because of him, your Lestrange family is also the most trusted by our master. That's an honor that no one else can compare to."
"Honor?"
Radolphus said woozily: "What kind of honor is that? Don't think I don't know how you all mock me behind my back... Isn't it just the Golden Cup? An old relic, long since devoid of magic power! She even treasures it like a prized possession, hiding it in our family's vault. I'm not even allowed to touch it as its master..."
After that, Radolphus grumbled a lot more, and Lucius deftly dealt with him, making Radolphus feel understood while showing no hint of disloyalty to the Dark Lord.
When sober, Radolphus seemed to forget what he had said, still remaining the low-profile, ordinary man standing behind Bella, loyally serving the Dark Lord and never refusing to be the sharp spear in his wife's hand.
Lucius naturally also "forgot" that drunken talk, but the term "Golden Cup" lingered in his mind.
If we speak of the most famous golden cup in the British Magic World, it's undoubtedly Helga Hufflepuff's Golden Cup, which is said to possess miraculous and unique magic, passed down through generations among Hufflepuff's descendants.
Of course, the claims of that cup's power are no longer believed—if it were truly a powerful magic item, why is the Hufflepuff family still so mediocre?
Other than the famous cup, there are also the Holy Grail of King Arthur's legend, the Cup of Youth holding the Fountain of Youth, Dagda's Magic Cauldron, King Solomon's Demon-sealing Golden Cup, and so on.
But considering Voldemort's obsession with Hogwarts and the legends of the four founders...
Lucius felt that what was valued by that person must be the Hufflepuff Golden Cup.
Of course, this was also because only the Hufflepuff Golden Cup had a definite whereabouts, while the existence of other legendary cups was uncertain.
He contemplated these not out of coveting the ancient cup but because there was an inexplicable discomfort—
Why did Bella receive the legendary Hufflepuff Golden Cup, while all he had was a filthy and outdated Muggle notebook?
This unease was hard to articulate; it simply arose from his heart from time to time, scratching at his chest.
However, when relaying this to Dumbledore, these thoughts turned into evidence of Lucius's keen observation, thorough consideration, and covert dissatisfaction with Voldemort already brewing.
The unease of betraying the Dark Lord surged briefly in his heart but was quickly suppressed by Lucius.
In his view, he wasn't betraying anyone.
Lucius thought that the two intense changes in the Dark Mark demonstrated that the Dark Lord had attempted resurrection but failed miserably; he might have already perished, leaving no choice but to pass on the Death Eater's power to Barty Crouch Jr.
Was it necessary for him—the Malfoy Clan Leader, heir of an old noble title, representative of a Pure-Blood Clan, and senior official of the Ministry of Magic—to submit to a young upstart barely hanging on?
What did that Barty Crouch Jr amount to? He dared to turn him into a toad, making him suffer greatly, and even his son was humiliated to such an extent!
Moreover, even if Malfoy was willing to bow and serve, would Barty Crouch Jr truly accept him without any prejudice?
The malice from that guy was almost overflowing!
If Lucius reappeared after returning to his former self, who knows when that young man would come knocking again, leading the Death Eaters now loyal to him.
By then, the Malfoy Family would truly meet its demise.
Therefore, Lucius was eager to leap onto a more solid ship, to find a new backing for himself.
In his mind, siding with Dumbledore and revealing Voldemort's past secrets were necessary moves, a very rational choice, meant to preserve the living strength of the Pure-Blood Clan.
Under the influence of a mysterious magic power, Lucius completely ignored one possibility—
That the repeated dramatic changes in the Dark Mark didn't imply the Dark Lord's death, nor had the Death Eaters a new master.
Their sole master was stubbornly struggling across the line of life and death, intending to make a comeback, and indeed was gradually regaining strength once more.
Dumbledore knew this well, but he had no intention of reminding him; instead, he offered his cherished honey candy with compassion to Lucius.
"Mr. Malfoy, how well do you know the Lestrange Family's vault?"
Dumbledore slowly asked, "Is there any way to find out if the Hufflepuff Golden Cup might be stored there?"
"I'm sorry," Lucius sighed, sincerely saying, "I would gladly help—if I could. But neither Narcissa nor I can access the Lestrange Family vault. Unless..."
His voice slightly paused, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Dumbledore spoke out his thoughts, "Unless Azkaban experiences another breakout, and the Lestrange Family members retrieve it personally from Gringotts?"
"Of course... there is another way."
Lucius couldn't help but lower his voice, saying slowly, "There are three remaining members of the Lestrange Family in prison... If they all died, I mean... according to inheritance law, Narcissa would inherit all their assets, including that cup..."
Though the Black Family also had Sirius, he was only a cousin to Bellatrix, while Narcissa, as the biological sister, had the precedence in inheritance over Sirius.
Even without Narcissa, the priority inheritor would be his son—Draco Malfoy.
Lucius fantasized about the vast Lestrange Family vault. Even though he was already one of the wealthiest in the Magic World, he couldn't help but feel a heat in his heart and subconsciously swallowed.
Dumbledore glanced at him, as if seeing the mental shower of gold coins ringing in the wizard's mind.
He took a sip of hot tea, and the temperature in the office seemed to subtly drop a few degrees.
"Mr. Malfoy—"
Dumbledore said calmly, "Murder is not a shortcut to solving problems; it's the beginning of creating more problems."
"Even for those who've committed so many crimes?" Malfoy said, disagreeing, "You know they long deserved to die."
As soon as the words fell, he saw Dumbledore give him a deep look, sending a chill through Lucius.
Though unspoken, he immediately grasped what Dumbledore meant—
If the Headmaster were truly so ruthless, Lucius Malfoy would have been dead long ago, could not possibly be enjoying freedom for ten years, much less sitting in Dumbledore's office, sharing tea with him.
Dumbledore's fingertips gently tapped the table, and after a moment, he said, "Even prisoners in Azkaban are protected by law. If we start trampling on the law arbitrarily, we will never recover the line that distinguishes civilization from savagery, Lucius."