Lucius Malfoy?
After getting a clear look at the man's face, Maurise was not particularly surprised. He had already felt that the man's tone of voice sounded incredibly familiar. It was entirely expected.
"Mr. Malfoy?" Maurise said. "What a coincidence."
"Loosen these ropes," Lucius demanded, doing his utmost to suppress his boiling anger. "That is, if you do not want to invite trouble."
"Hah, a threat." Maurise's tone carried a hint of amusement. "I do love a good threat. But who exactly do you think those feeble words are going to scare?"
Lucius's face turned a livid shade of purple. When had he ever been subjected to such an insult?
"Do not meddle in affairs that do not concern you. Leave now, and I can pretend tonight never happened," Lucius said through gritted teeth.
"Is that right?" Seeing that the man was still stubbornly running his mouth, Maurise narrowed his eyes. He summoned a bone spike and pressed it directly against Lucius's throat. "Do you think anyone would notice if I killed you in this desolate place and burned your corpse to ash?"
Lucius shuddered. He felt a sharp prick at his neck, followed by a warm trickle of liquid trailing down his skin. The tip of the bone spike had already pierced his flesh and was slowly digging deeper.
He desperately wanted to say, 'You would not dare', but the words that tumbled out of his mouth were entirely different. "You win, Black. Speak. What is it that you want?"
"Much better."
Maurise waved his hand. The bone spike pulled away from the man's throat and dropped into his palm, its tip still dripping with fresh blood.
At the same time, he drew his wand and pointed it at Lucius's wound, stemming the bleeding. Even a wizard would die from severe blood loss, after all.
Having taken care of that, he simply sat cross-legged on the ground and asked, "Now, please tell me, Mr. Malfoy. What exactly are you all doing here tonight?"
Lucius had barely opened his mouth.
Bang!
A blinding flash of green light erupted in the distant night sky, bursting outward like a firework.
Immediately following the blast, an ominous symbol materialized in the heavens. It was a colossal, glowing green skull with a python dangling from its mouth... wait, no, the python was protruding out of its mouth.
The Dark Mark. Voldemort's personal insignia.
Maurise recognized the symbol, though he could not help but critique it. Voldemort's aesthetic taste was truly abysmal. The skull itself was quite striking, but adding a snake to the mix instantly made it look tacky and disjointed.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," Maurise said with dawning comprehension. "So this was your objective tonight? To announce Voldemort's return? Wait a moment, has Voldemort resurrected?"
"I know nothing," Lucius stammered, his face deathly pale. "I was coerced into this."
Maurise sighed. Those words held absolutely no persuasive power. If claiming coercion was enough to wash one's hands of all responsibility, what was the point of consequences?
"Let me go," Lucius pressed on. "I can give you whatever you desire. There is no enmity between us."
Maurise looked at him and smiled.
"You burned my friend's tent," he stated plainly. "Just a moment ago, the people you brought with you hurled several fire spells at it. The tent was nearly destroyed. I know you were the one leading them; you were giving the orders all along."
If he and Kyle had not been vigilant, an ordinary wizard might very well have burned to a crisp in their sleep.
"I can compensate you for the damages to the tent," Lucius said, trying to regain his composure.
"Compensate?" The corners of Maurise's mouth crept upward. "Of course you can. Let us factor in the cost of the tent, plus damages for emotional distress. How does twenty thousand Galleons sound?"
Lucius's face twitched violently. The figure was completely absurd. It was glaringly obvious what the boy was really saying: 'I am messing with you.'
"Tell you what," Maurise pivoted smoothly. "Help me test out a spell, and I will let you go. We will write off the incident with the tent, and I will not breathe a word of what happened tonight. How does that sound?"
"What spell?" Lucius instantly felt a strong sense of foreboding.
"Relax. I am going to start now." Maurise pulled the Death Energy Crystal from his pocket, gripped it tightly in one hand, and slowly extended his other hand toward Lucius.
"Vor... Kul... Teneb." (Torment Curse)
A wisp of grey mist drifted toward Lucius. This was no ordinary Torment Curse; it had been laced with an infinitesimal trace of Death Energy. Maurise was actively trying to master this new power.
Or rather, he was attempting to mimic the exact curse that "Death" had cast upon him. Having experienced it firsthand, he figured he might be able to replicate its effects. Fortuitously, a ready-made test subject had practically delivered himself to his doorstep.
The grey mist sank into Lucius's body.
"Argh!"
Lucius immediately began to howl in sheer, excruciating pain.
"What... what have you done to me?" His voice was entirely distorted as he thrashed on the ground. "No... stop... I beg of you... I will do anything... stop..."
Maurise watched him with a cold, detached gaze.
He could sense the man's life force beginning to drain away, just as his own had. However, the accompanying pain seemed to be vastly magnified.
"I am quite a vindictive person, Mr. Malfoy," Maurise stated calmly. "Remember what I am about to tell you. This is merely a lesson. If there is a next time, you had better kill me outright. Otherwise, I will personally send you to meet Merlin, and I am not joking."
"Yes, yes," Lucius choked out between gasps. "Please... stop it... I beg you... I cannot take it..."
The veins on his forehead were bulging, and he was sweating profusely, completely stripped of his usual haughty and arrogant demeanor.
Maurise glanced up at the Dark Mark glowing in the sky and said mildly, "Thirty more seconds. I will lift it for you after that."
Those thirty seconds would undoubtedly become Lucius's worst nightmare. Excellent. That was precisely the effect he was aiming for.
"Who is there?!"
Suddenly, a sharp shout echoed from behind him, accompanied by the chaotic thud of approaching footsteps and the bright beams of Wand-Lighting Charms. It was likely Ministry personnel.
Maurise materialized his white bone mask and turned to face the incoming group.
But in that very instant...
Crack!
A sharp, distinct popping noise split the air. Maurise whipped his head back, only to find that Lucius had completely vanished.
Only then did he realize his mistake: he had forgotten to confiscate the man's wand. Although Lucius's hands were bound behind his back, he had likely managed to Apparate away using subtle wand movements.
Maurise felt a twinge of exasperation.
It was not because Lucius had escaped, but rather because he had not yet lifted the curse! Without his active intervention, that specialized Torment Curse might persist for several days, perhaps even an entire week.
Well, he certainly hoped Mr. Malfoy could survive the ordeal.
While he was pondering this, the Aurors had nearly closed in on his position. Maurise hesitated no longer. With a quick wave of his wand, he Apparated away.
When he reappeared, he was back at their original campsite.
Kyle was crouching in the empty clearing. The moment he spotted Maurise, his eyes lit up.
"Maurise, thank goodness you are alright!" he shouted, rushing over. "Did you catch any of them?"
"I caught one," Maurise replied. "It is all sorted now, and the culprit learned a well-deserved lesson."
Kyle let out a long breath of relief. "You absolutely must tell me all the details..."