After her father disappears into hiding, Voldemort captures her and locks her deep in the dungeon cells beneath his manor, determined to draw the traitor out. To pressure her father into surrendering, Voldemort subjects her to cruel magical torment—casting the Cruciatus Curse, leaving her bound for days without food or warmth, and using weapons to cut deep into her. Every scream that echoes through the stone corridors is meant to reach spies and rumors across the wizarding world, a message to her father that the suffering will not stop until he returns. Unbeknownst to Voldemort’s son, Mattheo Riddle, the prisoner in the basement is someone he once knew. During his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she had been the quiet girl he secretly admired from afar. One night while passing through the lower cells, Mattheo hears a voice crying out in pain—and freezes when he recognizes it. Following the sound, he discovers her chained behind iron bars, weak and terrified, realizing his father has been using the girl he once cared about as bait. Torn between loyalty to his father and the shock of seeing her broken in the darkness, Mattheo begins questioning everything he thought he knew about the war—and whether he can leave her there to suffer.