Antonio moved forward towards the last cell without any haste. He was neither worried nor anxious. He was relaxed, calm and composed.
Amelia, on the other hand, stood at the closed door, peeking through a small gap, like a hawk. Even though it was almost certain no one would come to the DMLE cells at this hour, she could not bring herself to be as relaxed as Antonio.
Before Antonio reached the third cell, he raised his wand once more and casted another spell. A sound isolating barrier enveloped the entire cell block. Not a single sound would escape.
Antonio reached the front of the third cell and gazed inside through the iron bars. There was no light source within the cell, the faint light seeping in from the corridor was the only thing illuminating the prison.
At the far end of the cell, there was a small raised platform constructed out of stone. This raised platform served as the bed for the prisoner.
A man was lying on the bed. Because of the dim lighting, the features of the man were obscured.
Antonio's arrival stirred him. The man let out a grunt and tilted his neck while still lying on the bed. He squinted, trying to recognize the unfamiliar figure standing at the bars.
Perhaps, recognition seemed to dawn on him as he shifted, rose from his lying position, and sat up.
As the man sat up, his facial features became clear. He had pale skin and dark black hair and equally dark eyes. His clothes appeared quite old and though they were not tattered, they were on their last breath.
"Lord Olario," he said in a low tone. "I never expected I would see you here."
Antonio raised his eyebrows.
"You know me?" he asked, intrigued.
"Yes," the man nodded. "Even prisoners have access to newspapers."
"Oh!" Antonio exhaled lightly. If the man was reading newspapers, then his recognition was unsurprising.
The man was a Death Eater. One of the rare few who had actually been captured by the Ministry of Magic.
Ever since the Death Eaters had begun their reign of terror, the Ministry had managed to capture only a handful of them. Of those, most had already gone through their Wizengamot hearings, had been sentenced, and shipped off to Azkaban.
This particular Death Eater had been captured around twenty days ago. By none other than Alastor Moody. For the last two weeks, his hearing had been ongoing, and he too was expected to be sent to Azkaban within the next few days.
And Antonio was here to interrogate him, to investigate and extract information. This Death Eater would be his first step in the investigation.
Although the investigation was focused primarily on the attack on Lily, Antonio intended to dive fully into the network of the Death Eaters.
Antonio understood that he had already embroiled himself in a full blown war against them. Not that he regretted it. He was certain that sooner or later he would be coming into direct confrontation with the dark lord. That he and Voldemort would stand facing each other with wands in their hands.
But now that he was involved, he realized he could no longer remain on the back foot. He could not stay in a position where he only reacted after the Death Eaters made their moves. Be it the attack on him, the attack on the Bones Manor or the attack on the Hogsmeade, it was death eaters who had held their initiative.
On the contrary, he needed to be proactive. Sure, he and Lord Edmund Bones had been planning a few moves but it was all political. Nothing concrete that could really hurt the death eaters. The plan first required them to seize power in the ministry and then only action against the death eaters could be taken. And while this plan had its own merit, Antonio understood that something more needed to be done.
He needed to be on the front foot, the one taking action, the one maintaining the upper hand.
"The people from the Ministry could not force me to open my mouth," the Death Eater commented with a chuckle. "So they have called you? The famous Death Eater killer?"
Antonio shook his head. "Not really. I am here on my own accord."
The Death Eater squinted. "On your own accord?"
"Why would you want to meet me?" The death eater questioned. "And why would the Ministry allow you to meet me? At this hour?"
"Who said they allowed me to meet you?" Antonio chuckled, clearly amused.
The man jolted in a little bit of shock. He sprinted toward the iron bars and pressed himself against them, looking for the Aurors. His eyes bulged as he realized that the two Aurors, the two guards, who appeared to be comfortably sitting in their chairs were actually unconscious.
"You…" he stammered. "You have intruded into the Ministry?"
"You can kill innocent people," Antonio replied calmly. "You can shatter buildings, attack whoever you want. But I cannot even intrude into the Ministry without harming anyone? Is this really so shocking?"
"What do you want?" the Death Eater asked as he backed away from the bars.
His palms were sweating and a cold chill was travelling through his spine. He knew that without his wand, he was helpless before Lord Olario. Not that having his wand would have made any difference. In front of Antonio, he would always be helpless.
And the reason for his terror was simple. The Ministry was bound by rules.What they could do to the captured death eaters was limited by laws, regulations, and procedures. Not to mention the number of death eaters sympathizers inside the ministry who were willing to shield them.
Every Death Eater was indoctrinated with the belief that even if they were caught, the worst that would happen was being sent to Azkaban and that was not a big deal. In a few months, when the Dark Lord seized control of Wizarding Britain, they would be released from Azkaban anyway.
"What do I want?" Antonio asked with a smirk as he stepped forward. With a simple wave of his wand, the iron door unlocked and swung open. He stepped inside the cell.
The Death Eater instinctively stepped back in fear.
"I… I will tell you everything," he stammered. He had no desire to be tortured. Without a doubt, he was certain Antonio possessed countless methods to inflict unimaginable pain.
Antonio shook his head.
"I do not trust you," he replied, raising his wand. "You could tell lies, and I would never know. Hence, I will extract everything from you on my own."
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