Chapter 172: Considerate Bella
As night deepened, the international train sped smoothly across the plains of Eastern Europe.
Inside the luxurious first class compartment, the wall lamps had been dimmed to their lowest setting.
Tamara leaned against the large, soft bed, her breathing steady.
The tension of an entire year at Hogwarts, combined with the faint exhaustion left by her recent actions against evil, allowed her to fall into a rare deep sleep inside the secure, soundproof compartment.
In the shadows at the corner of the room, Nagini, who should have been under a Sleeping Charm and locked inside a brass cage, opened her eyes.
Those golden vertical pupils flickered with an almost human light in the darkness.
Click.
A furry black paw skilfully reached through the gap between the bars and fiddled with the latch several times.
With a soft click, the cage door opened.
The black cat leaped lightly onto the thick carpet without making a sound.
She silently made her way straight toward Tamara's bedside.
By the faint moonlight filtering through the window, the black cat gazed obsessively at the sleeping girl's face.
If Quirrell or any Death Eater had been present, the cat's expression would certainly have made their skin crawl.
It was not an expression any ordinary animal should possess.
It was filled with morbid worship, fanatical attachment, and a madness willing to sacrifice everything.
Locked within this feline body was the Dark Lord's most loyal and most deranged follower, Bellatrix Lestrange.
Looking at her master so close at hand, Bella could not help recalling the dark nightmare of Azkaban.
On that cold, isolated island, Dementors had drained away her happiness day after day.
That despair had nearly driven her completely mad, but one belief had kept her alive.
She had to wait for the Dark Lord's return.
Then, one day, while she drifted between consciousness and exhaustion, a cheerful electronic voice suddenly rang inside her mind.
[Ding! A powerful obsession has been detected! Madam, you have an opportunity to remain beside the great Dark Lord forever, to see her every day, and even to be personally touched by her. Would you like to accept?]
At the time, Bella had no idea what a system was.
She believed it was some ancient and mysterious Dark Arts contract left behind by the Dark Lord.
"I accept! As long as I can return to my master's side, I am willing to surrender my soul and flesh! I will do anything!"
Inside her cold cell, she had uttered the most fanatical oath of loyalty in a hoarse voice.
Then the contract was established.
That damned voice fulfilled its promise in a rather ridiculous way.
When Bella regained consciousness, she did not find herself at a gathering of Death Eaters.
Instead, she had become a cat locked inside a cage at the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley.
She had lost her wand, her human voice, and even her consciousness was suppressed by feline instincts most of the time.
But what did that matter?
The black haired, black eyed girl had walked into the pet shop, gazed at her with that familiar cold expression, though it was filled with disgust, and bought her.
Bella felt that it was all worth it.
She had become her master's private property.
She could sleep at her master's feet every day and even openly climb onto her master's bed.
This was a privilege that neither the hypocritical Lucius nor that gloomy Snivellus, Snape, could ever hope to receive.
Her thoughts returned to the present.
The black cat leaped lightly onto the soft bed and slowly approached Tamara's face.
A familiar scent filled her nostrils.
Suddenly, the black cat froze.
Her gaze fell upon Tamara's slightly open collar.
There, a ring of marks left by the Dark Arts backlash remained deeply branded into the girl's pale skin. Though they had faded, they still radiated a pure aura of darkness and blood.
That familiar scent, carrying Tamara's pure magic, pierced deep into Bella's soul.
Hum.
The instant she came into contact with that aura, the system restriction suppressing Bella's soul seemed to loosen briefly under the stimulation of the pure Dark Arts magic.
The black cat's body began trembling violently beneath the moonlight.
Her bones made eerie cracking sounds as her body stretched and twisted.
A few seconds later, the black cat lying on the bed had vanished.
In her place was a woman.
She had a mass of thick, curly black hair, and her pale, thin face carried a neurotic fanaticism.
Most strangely, two furry black cat ears sat atop her head, while a long, slender black tail swayed excitedly behind her.
Bella still thought she was a cat.
Or perhaps, after spending so long trapped inside a feline body, combined with her extreme excitement at that moment, she did not realise that she had returned to human form at all.
All she could see was the scar on her master's neck.
"Master... my master is hurt..."
A wave of anguish surged through Bella's heart.
Following her feline instincts, she lay down and brought her face close to Tamara's neck.
Then she extended her tongue and gently licked the strangulation mark where the Dark Arts aura remained.
The rough surface of her tongue left a warm, damp, and spine chilling sensation.
"Mmm..."
That strange and dangerous touch instantly triggered the Dark Lord's vigilance.
Tamara's brows furrowed sharply in her sleep, and every muscle in her body tensed.
Her eyelids began to tremble as a cold and terrifying killing intent awakened within her.
Someone was approaching her.
Someone was touching a vulnerable spot.
Tamara's consciousness was breaking free from sleep, ready to tear the reckless attacker to pieces.
Seeing that her master was about to open those rage filled eyes, Bella, who had been licking the wound enthusiastically, instantly panicked.
It was over.
If she woke her master, Tamara would certainly be furious.
She would be kicked off the bed without mercy, perhaps even locked back inside that cold brass cage and never again allowed to sleep so close to her master.
"No! I must stay with Master!"
Driven by both feline instinct and the deranged logic of a Death Eater, Bella did not think at all.
She merely followed the faint flow of magic, raised her right hand, and considerately pressed a wandless spell against Tamara's smooth forehead.
"Stupefy!"
A faint but precise red light struck Tamara's forehead at point blank range.
The poor Dark Lord had only just begun to awaken. Before she could even fully open her eyes, she collapsed back onto the pillow beneath her most loyal servant's loving restraint.
Seeing her master's furrowed brows relax and her breathing deepen once more, Bella finally felt relieved.
"Wonderful. Master can continue sleeping."
She let out a satisfied chuckle.
Then, this former elite Death Eater who had once terrified the wizarding world wrapped both arms tightly around Tamara's waist, buried her face in the robes carrying her master's scent, and closed her eyes contentedly.
However, her human form did not last long.
After losing the continuous stimulation of Tamara's pure dark magic, the system restriction took hold once more.
With a faint ripple of magic, the woman's body rapidly shrank in her sleep.
Eventually, she transformed back into a black cat, clinging to Tamara's chest like a sticky rice cake.
The next morning.
As the first rays of Eastern European sunlight filtered through the gaps in the carriage and entered the compartment, Tamara slowly opened her eyes.
"Hiss..."
The moment she regained consciousness, she gasped.
A dull pain, as though she had been struck hard with a wooden club, radiated from deep inside her skull.
What made breathing even more difficult was the heavy weight pressing against her chest.
Tamara abruptly looked down, and her eyes widened.
Nagini, who should have been locked inside the cage, was sprawled across her chest, sleeping so soundly that her tongue was sticking out.
Turning her head, Tamara saw that the latch on the brass cage had been opened.
"When did this damned beast escape?"
Tamara's face darkened.
With a look of disgust, she reached out, grabbed the black cat by the scruff of her neck, and mercilessly threw her onto the carpet like a rag.
"Meow!"
The black cat gave a startled cry in midair, landed steadily on the ground, then immediately arched her back and looked at Tamara with an aggrieved and innocent expression, as though she had no idea what she had done wrong.
Tamara ignored the stupid cat's protests.
She rubbed her temples, which were still throbbing painfully, while confusion and vigilance flashed through her dark eyes.
"What... happened to me last night?"
She thought back.
Although she had been somewhat tired, she should not have slept so deeply.
And this splitting headache felt remarkably similar to the aftermath of being struck by a solid Stunning Spell.
Tamara immediately reached for the wand in her pocket while sharply scanning the perfectly sealed compartment.
There were no signs that the door lock had been broken, nor any indication that the protective charms had been triggered.
Aside from Tamara, the only living thing in the room was that stupid cat, which was once again trying to approach and rub itself against her boots.
The possibility that a cat had awakened in the middle of the night and cast Stupefy on her was far too absurd.
In the end, she could only attribute the strange situation to the energy she had recently exhausted dealing with that idiotic system, resulting in an uncontrollable reaction from her fatigued soul.
Tamara straightened her disordered collar and gave the black cat on the floor a cold glance.
"Quirrell."
Tamara's voice pierced through the compartment, once again carrying its usual lofty coldness.
"Prepare to disembark. We've arrived."
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