Chapter 272
"Hiss…"
Nagini's cold tongue slid slowly across Peter's uneven face.
This was a dark, gloomy cave.
Black stalactite-like rocks hung upside down from the ceiling, and droplets of water continuously dripped from them, splashing onto the stone floor with soft pattering sounds.
Inside the cave's silence—
Those sounds felt especially sharp and piercing.
"You're awake, Wormtail?"
A cold voice echoed beside Peter's ears.
The man lying on the ground trembled violently.
He immediately rolled over and crawled fearfully toward the feet of Lord Voldemort.
At this moment, Voldemort sat calmly upon a stone chair that had clearly been created through Transfiguration.
The Dark Lord lowered his scarlet eyes and coldly observed the pathetic figure kneeling before him.
"My resurrection ceremony… ended in complete humiliation, didn't it?"
Voldemort's voice sounded terrifyingly calm.
"I was beaten by that detestable old man until I fled like a stray dog with my head lowered."
"Voldemort has never suffered such disgrace before."
"I will wash away this humiliation with blood."
"M-Master, this was only a temporary mistake," Peter Pettigrew hurriedly said in a flattering tone. "You'll adapt to this body very soon."
"How interesting."
Voldemort laughed softly.
"Not only are you stupid, Wormtail…"
"…but you're also remarkably forgetful."
"Did you forget something?"
Peter immediately shuddered again.
"Enemy's blood…" Voldemort murmured softly.
"I originally believed that using Harry Potter's blood as a catalyst would make me even stronger than before."
"To me, no enemy was more important than him."
"But something happened that even Voldemort did not anticipate."
The Dark Lord's voice gradually turned colder.
"He never expected his servant's flesh and bones to carry hatred toward him."
"You ruined all my plans, Wormtail."
Peter's face instantly became covered in tears and mucus.
The sight was indescribably disgusting.
"Forgive me, Master! Please forgive me!"
He desperately slammed his forehead against the ground again and again.
Then he struggled forward, trying to crawl closer to Voldemort's feet in hopes of earning pity.
"Nagini…"
Voldemort calmly moved his feet away from Peter's grasp.
"It seems you'll finally get a proper meal after all."
The massive snake immediately began writhing excitedly.
Its thick body slowly coiled around Peter's calf.
"Master! No—Master! I'm still useful! I'm still useful! Please give your loyal servant another chance!"
Peter begged incoherently.
Yet despite his terror, he still did not dare resist.
Resistance would only make death come faster.
"Loyal?"
Voldemort let out a low laugh.
"That is perhaps the funniest joke I've ever heard."
His pale fingers slowly examined themselves while he completely ignored the miserable creature beneath him.
Nagini's icy body continued sliding upward.
Calves.
Thighs.
Waist.
Neck.
Soon, the enormous snake had completely wrapped itself around Peter Pettigrew.
Only his head remained exposed.
"M-Mas… Master…"
Peter felt the freezing, slippery scales tightening around his throat.
Nagini's body nearly swallowed him whole.
He gradually realized he could no longer draw breath.
His already pale face slowly turned an agonized purplish red.
And then—
Nagini began tightening further.
Voldemort sighed softly.
"All these years, while thinking about my return…"
"…I've also been pondering another question."
"How can pain truly reach its limit?"
"How should Mudbloods and Muggles be tortured?"
"How can despair be perfected?"
"The Cruciatus Curse?"
Voldemort shook his head dismissively.
"No. It merely magnifies physical pain countless times. Once the nerves reach their limit, they eventually grow numb."
"I once encountered several extremely stubborn wizards."
"I tortured them with the Cruciatus Curse for a very long time, yet they still refused to beg for mercy."
"In the end, it seemed they could no longer even feel pain."
"Even as enemies… they earned Voldemort's respect."
Then Voldemort's lips slowly curled upward.
"So I began wondering…"
"How does mental suffering compare to physical suffering?"
"To me, death is the greatest terror."
"How shameful. How horrifying."
His slender fingers clenched tightly into a fist.
"But foolish people seem not to understand this."
"They believe ridiculous things like 'love' and 'sacrifice' can overcome death."
"If that were true…"
"Then why did that boy's parents still die?"
"Why didn't they destroy me completely?"
"Why did they leave me with the chance to struggle back from the edge of death?"
Even while speaking of his greatest humiliation—
Voldemort's expression remained eerily calm.
"Ah… I've wandered off topic again."
"After all, you don't have much time left."
His dark eyes slowly lowered toward Peter once more.
"Just now, I said that physical torture alone cannot reach perfection."
"Those stubborn fools…"
"Even under the Cruciatus Curse, they refused to beg."
Voldemort suddenly smiled.
A horrifying smile.
"So I used the Imperius Curse on them instead."
"I forced them to kill one another."
"After they mortally wounded each other… I removed the curse."
"Companions who fought side by side."
"Wizards who believed in sacrifice and devotion."
"They personally killed their comrades with their own hands."
"How fascinating."
Voldemort's eyes glimmered with twisted delight.
"The despair…"
"The shock…"
"The pain…"
"The helplessness…"
"It's difficult to describe."
"But at that moment, the hatred in the air was unmistakable."
"Did they hate me?"
"Or did they hate themselves?"
Voldemort slowly shook his head.
"I don't know."
His sinister voice echoed endlessly throughout the cave.
"Still…"
"I believe I've discovered something even more interesting today."
His pale fingers tapped lightly against a nearby black stone, producing dull knocking sounds.
"The Cruciatus Curse?"
Voldemort looked at Peter and shook his head again.
"That would be wasted on you."
"You would probably faint long before reaching the true limits of suffering."
"And that would ruin the point of punishment."
"Nagini will control her strength carefully."
"She won't kill you immediately."
"Don't worry."
"You'll remain conscious the entire time."
"You'll feel your life slipping away little by little."
"I think this is the perfect punishment…"
"…for a coward who betrayed his friends."
"After all, your betrayal never brought you the future you dreamed of."
"Only stupidity."
"Lo… Lord…"
Peter's bulging eyes were now bloodshot to a horrifying extent.
It looked as though they might burst from their sockets at any moment.
Cracking sounds continuously echoed from his body.
His bones were beginning to dislocate beneath Nagini's crushing coils.
Before he could finish begging—
The snake tightened even further around his throat.
"Crack."
A sickening sound echoed through the cave.
Peter finally began struggling desperately.
His arms trembled violently as he fought with all his remaining strength.
But it was useless.
Without a wand, most wizards were no different from ordinary Muggles.
Sometimes even weaker.
After all, they had long grown accustomed to solving every problem with magic.
Perhaps Peter once had a chance to escape—
Back when Nagini first wrapped around him.
But now that the snake had fully coiled around his neck—
Even without Voldemort standing nearby—
His death was already inevitable.
The light inside Peter's cloudy eyes slowly faded.
He could no longer breathe.
Could no longer think.
Instinctively, he tried to claw at the scales around his throat.
But his arms could no longer move at all.
"They're bound too tightly now."
Voldemort rose from the stone chair calmly.
"I'm going outside for some fresh air."
"Nagini, remember to eat cleanly."
"I'll return later. There are still matters I need to deal with."
He lightly tapped his wand.
A stone door slowly opened.
Then Voldemort stepped out of the cave, his long black robes dragging across the ground behind him.
"Ugh… ah…"
That was the final sound Peter Pettigrew ever made.
Deep within a hidden cave no one would ever discover—
An ugly soul quietly disappeared from the world forever.