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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 77: Voldemort's Idea
Malfoy Manor
"My Lord, I bring news from the Ministry."
Voldemort heard the irritating voice of Wormtail coming from the other side of the door, and his anger went up another notch.
The parchment he held in his hands had been partially destroyed by his rough handling.
"Enter…" Voldemort commanded.
Wormtail walked inside the study with hesitation. Since his return, their Lord had been in a bad mood, and it had only gotten worse over time. He hoped that tonight's news would improve things slightly.
"My Lord, we have received a letter from Yaxley, who went to attend an event at the Ministry. Madam Bones, the Director of the Auror Department, has b—"
"Has been murdered…" Voldemort finished the sentence, lifting the piece of parchment in his hand so Wormtail could see it. "I have heard already."
He had several Death Eaters infiltrated in the Auror Department and had just received the news from one of them a few minutes before Wormtail called.
"Isn't it great news?" Wormtail was somewhat confused because he had expected their Lord to be much happier by now. "With Madam Bones gone, taking control of the entire Auror Department has become a strong possibility. Or at the very leas—"
"Do I look happy to you?" Voldemort turned his face around so Wormtail could get a good look.
This made him tremble. Their Lord did not look happy at all. In fact, he looked miserable.
"N-no, my Lord…" Wormtail wondered if he was about to get cursed, just like Snape did when he brought the news about Dumbledore's death.
Back then, they had all been ready to celebrate, but the Dark Lord surprised them by becoming furious instead of joyful after learning that his biggest obstacle had been eliminated by someone unknown to them.
"Someone is moving further in their agenda…and it is not us," Voldemort said.
"You mean…this is the same person who killed the Headmaster?" Wormtail asked.
Voldemort had no intention of sharing his thoughts with him, though. "Tell me…did Yaxley's letter mention anything else, other than the murder of Madam Bones?"
Wormtail looked confused and produced the letter from his pocket. "No, My Lord." He handed it to Voldemort while wondering what else could have happened at the Ministry.
Voldemort didn't look too surprised. The Ministry would not want the public to know that they were also robbed of a dangerous dark artifact.
'The Codex Daemonium…' Voldemort thought about the title of the stolen tome. He was not familiar with it, but just from the title, it was easy to guess what it was about.
Demonology was not a branch of magic he had paid much attention to. Even by his own standards, this path was too risky to take, and instead, he decided to put his focus somewhere else.
Demons are devious creatures and will always try to trick the wizard who dared to make pacts with them. They want nothing but to bring ruin and destruction to this world.
On the other hand, the undead are much easier to control, and this is why he had chosen to put more effort into learning that branch of magic.
'Only the most insane wizards would be willing to delve into demonology…that's not good.' He would have much rather dealt with someone like Dumbledore. At least with the old man, he was able to predict his actions to some degree.
"The Ministry must be in chaos right now," Wormtail commented.
This comment caught Voldemort's attention. "What did you say?"
"Ehm…" Wormtail got startled after opening his mouth without thinking.
"Well… It's just that in the letter, Yaxley mentioned seeing dozens of Aurors running all over the place, obviously trying to find out who killed their boss. The entire Auror Department must be at the Ministry right now, so…it must be very chaotic."
"The entire Auror Department is at the Ministry…of course." Something just occurred to Voldemort.
He stood up from his chair and glared at Wormtail, who was looking terrified.
"How many members are in the house right now?"
"Mmm…let's see…" Wormtail hurried to remember everyone he had seen tonight. "We have Selwyn, the Carrow twins, and I think I saw Lord Rosier in the living room with the young Malfoy. Speaking of the boy, he had expressed a strong desire to officially join us. I believe that the sudden loss of his fathe—"
"Call them all. I want them all at the gates of the manor in ten minutes," Voldemort demanded. "And tell them to bring their flying brooms."
"B-brooms, My Lord?" Wormtail looked confused. They didn't have any raids arranged for today.
"You still don't see it, Wormtail?" Voldemort's mood seemed to have improved rapidly. "The entire Auror Department is going to be very busy tonight. What better chance do we have to pay Azkaban a visit? And get some of my most loyal followers out of there. We have made them wait for too long already."
"Ohh…" Wormtail's eyes opened widely at the wicked idea.
Tonight, the prison must be working with the bare minimum personnel, so there isn't going to be a better chance to launch an assault on Azkaban than tonight.
"Go. We mustn't waste a single minute," Voldemort demanded.
"Yes, My Lord!" Wormtail took off running as fast as he could.
A few minutes later, six individuals were standing right outside Malfoy Manor, covered with their black cloaks and wearing white masks.
The Carrow twins chuckled loudly. "This is going to be so fun."
"My Lord, we are ready," Selwyn responded in a serious tone.
Lord Rosier turned when he saw the young Draco Malfoy crossing the open gates of the mansion.
"It is too soon for you, boy."
"But I want to go too!" Draco exclaimed. "I'm ready to serve you, My Lord." His eyes moved to Voldemort.
Draco was lucky that Voldemort was in a much better mood now; otherwise, he would have been cursed already for shouting in his presence.
"Draco, stop." His mother, Narcissa, came from behind and grabbed the boy. "It is too soon for that yet."
"No! I'm the man of the house now. I'm r—"
"Young Malfoy," Voldemort interrupted him.
The moment he spoke, the place was filled with silence.
His red eyes were focused on the boy now. "We will speak about this after my return. For now…listen to your mother and stay here." The truth is that he still didn't know what he wanted to do with this boy.
With Lucius dead, Draco was now going to become the next Lord Malfoy. However, the family had lost the majority of their fortune, drastically reducing their utility. But for the moment, it would be wise to keep the boy alive and well, just in case.
"Thank you, My Lord," Narcissa hurried to say.
"Well then…" Voldemort turned to his followers. "We have a prison to break."
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