The ballroom of Malfoy family was draped in a sickly blue-green glow. Twelve black-crystal chandeliers encrusted with serpent motifs floated near the vaulted ceiling, casting the twisted, reptile-like shadows of the Death Eaters across the gilded walls.
Two figures were locked in a silent, savage struggle behind the throne. Tom leaned lazily on one hand, the handsome face of Tom Riddle from his school days half-hidden in the flickering candlelight.
Voldemort himself sat upon the throne of bones. Beneath the throne, the exposed tail of Nagini crushed the corpse of a house-elf. The serpent's newly shed skin swayed like a noose hanging from a gallows, casting a sickening arc through the reeking air.
Chapter 238