Chapter 33

The werewolf, who had had his magic mirror stolen by his brother, approached Draco next, visibly uncomfortable.

"Lord, I'm so sorry. I lost the mirror you gave me. I don't have fifty Galleons right now to compensate you, but if you allow me to pay in installments, I promise to pay you back every Galleon, even if it takes years." The werewolf bowed down in front of Draco.

"Do you also want another chance to get the job?" Draco asked.

"No, I know I don't deserve it. It's better to hire those who didn't lose their mirrors, Lord." The werewolf's shame was openly expressed, but the devastation and helplessness he was feeling were hidden underneath.

"Then how do you plan to earn the money to pay me?" Draco asked.

"I don't exactly know yet. Any way I can. I will figure it out and get you your money, Lord. I promise. Please believe me." The werewolf proclaimed.

This werewolf was either very principled or scared to death of the consequences of offending a Malfoy.

Or both...

Now, Draco just had to find out which it was.

"You lost the mirror, you said..." Draco probed.

"Yes, Lord. I lost it through my own negligence." The werewolf avoided lying by expressing his real opinion.

"Really? You just lost it? And there are no extenuating circumstances to take into consideration?" Draco continued probing, adopting an expression of seriousness for this purpose.

"No, Lord." The werewolf replied without hesitation.

His loyalty to his brother was admirable.

Now, Draco just had to figure out if this loyalty was unique because of their deep or co-dependent relationship as brothers, or if this loyalty was inherent to his character.

"Your name is Paul Studd, correct?" Draco asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Lord." Paul just called him 'Lord' all the time because he didn't know what the correct form of address was.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

'Lord Malfoy', 'Lord Black', 'Lord Malfoy Black' or 'Lord Black Malfoy'?

Paul thought just using 'Lord' was better than asking, or Lycaon forbid, using the wrong form.

"And your brother's name is Frank Studd, correct? He also applied, but he didn't pass the preliminary interview, right?"

Paul lowered his eyes and mumbled almost intelligibly, "Yes, Lord."

"Could it be that maybe, just maybe, your brother stole the magic mirror?" Draco probed.

"No!" Paul replied too quickly and too loudly in his panic.

So, he was not above lying, he was just bad at it.

Draco could work with that...

"Then where did you lose your magic mirror?" Draco probed further.

Paul knew the jig was up, so he just lowered his head further and kept silent, only wondering how the Lord could have known.

Did one of others the inform on him?

Who was it?

"Do you know where your brother went?" Draco asked.

Probably to London, to get more of these damn potions, but Paul couldn't be sure and even if he was he wouldn't tell, so he remained silent.

"Your brother went to Knockturn Alley and sold my mirror to Borgin and Burkes. You know there is a Tracking Charm on those mirrors... and the one on the mirror you got is still active. Your brother didn't have it removed and just sold it." Draco told him.

"Shit! This stupid..." Paul started cursing but caught himself after a moment.

"Please, Lord. My brother is sick, he has the potion sickness. He can't help himself. It was my fault, I was responsible for the mirror and no one else. Please, don't blame my brother, he already had to go through so much. Please, I'll do anything." Paul begged.

"You will do anything? We will see..." Draco surreptitiously waved his wand beneath the table and erected a sound isolation ward around Paul and himself. "Let me test that. I want you to find your brother and bring him to me. You have time until 9 p.m. If there is still someone here in the tower at that time, except for me and my house elf, wait in the Shrieking Shack for me." Draco said.

"My brother, Lord? I thought..." Paul wanted to say 'I thought I said I'll do anything if you leave my brother out of it', but he couldn't afford to be rude now. "I will get you your mirror back, Lord."

"No need. I will retrieve it myself, you just bring me your brother. If I give you the chance to make up for your brother's and your mistake by doing some jobs for me, I want to know if I can trust you. You will just have to trust me first. Trust that your dedication is more important to me than punishing your brother." Draco saw that Paul was still hesitating, so he added another nail, "Do you really think you or your brother could escape my grasp? How do you think this will end better for you? If you both present yourself out of your own initiative, or if I have to hunt you down?"

Paul seemed to finally accept the inevitability and nodded.

"Good. Then go now." Draco was curious to see if, in the end, Paul would really follow through and bring his brother to him, or if he would take his brother and try to run.

Of course, Draco would prefer to gain an underling instead of punishing two useless werewolves, but as long as no one managed to take any advantage of him, Draco was happy either way.

Now, that this conversation was over, Draco took down the sound isolation ward again, and they could finally start with the next part of the interviews.