Hogwarts Homecoming

"I seem to smell the smell of guilt——"

Voldemort stretched the slit of his nose to its fullest, sniffing the air,

"Why is that?"

The Death Eaters in both rows of the long table all lowered their heads, as if they were attending a memorial service.

"Who can give Voldemort a reason?"

Voldemort asked softly, his red eyes roaming around the dining table, and finally settled on a figure with gray hair wet with sweat.

There was a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth,

"My dear Lucius, perhaps your wisdom can help solve Voldemort's confusion?"

Lucius jumped up with a loud sound. He avoided Voldemort's gaze and his lips moved.

The first attempt at speaking failed.

Lucius's voice was hoarse. He suppressed his voice and cleared his throat.

"Owner."

Lucius gasped,

"I think maybe it's because of Blaine"

Glancing at the Dark Lord secretly, and seeing that he showed no sign of being furious, Lucius continued tremblingly,

"Bones is just a puppet. The Ministry of Magic is against us under the command of Brian. He is not as weak as Dumbledore. We, we"

"Afraid of confronting him, aren't you?"

The playful smile that appeared on the corner of Voldemort's mouth was not just directed at Lucius, but said to many people on the long table,

"Oh, maybe I should put it another way. Voldemort's Death Eaters are afraid of going against Brian. You are afraid that Brian will come up with new tricks to deprive you of your wealth."

Voldemort's flippant words caused a commotion.

Many people puffed up their chests and loudly assured Voldemort that everything they had belonged to the supreme Dark Lord, and they were willing to sacrifice everything for the Dark Lord at any time.

Of course, there were also many people who wiggled their butts uneasily and defended themselves in a voice that was not so confident.

"How disappointing—"

Voldemort's soft words immediately restored silence to the noisy restaurant.

"Oh, I'm beginning to miss the Death Eaters I once trained well. What I have in front of me now is a bunch of rabble--"

The Death Eaters continued to shrink their heads.

Everyone knew in their hearts that Blaine's tough policies made it difficult for them to move forward.

Yaxley and Rozier could get Wizard Weekly to publish several smear stories about Blaine.

But what's the use?

If it were Dumbledore, when faced with such reports, he would just ignore it and let them manipulate the news media to smear him.

But Amosta Blaine doesn't have that many rules.

After publishing the report, "Wizard Weekly" may immediately undergo censorship and closure for rectification. Soon, the headline of "Daily Prophet" will have an article written by Rita Skeeter herself about the "Witch Weekly" Articles about the infiltration of evil forces.

It was exactly as the Dark Lord said.

They didn't dare to be as unscrupulous as before.

Because they organized a strike movement at the bottom, Brian directly used public opinion and power to take away their workshop equity.

If the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic goes too far and Blaine notices.

Maybe Blaine will make some tougher move.

The goblin has made it clear that he is on the same front as Brian. He can deprive their family of centuries of wealth at any time.

Even transporting gold home is not safe.

Many ministers of magic would not be able to bring thugs to raid their homes, but they believed that Brian could do it, and he dared to do it without fear of threats.

When they followed the Dark Lord to compete with the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry of Magic at that time was not so 'unruly'!

"Severus?"

Voldemort turned his head and looked at Severus, who was sitting upright.

"Perhaps you have some good news for me?"

"There is indeed a piece of news, Master. Amosta personally told me during a casual chat——"

Severus looked into Voldemort's eyes and said,

"He previously attended the International Confederation of Wizards meeting with Dumbledore. After that, he went to investigate the breached Eccles Tower, and..."

Severus glanced lightly at Adam Vogel, who was smiling in a gentlemanly manner beside him.

"A woman, Jasna Vogel, was arrested near Uxta."

The smile on Adam's face froze, then faded.

"Ah, what an unexpected news--"

Voldemort showed a fleeting look of shock. He looked at the first person on his right.

"Dear Adam, I recall you telling me that your daughter may well have been sacrificed for our shared vision of greatness?"

"I think so, dear Dark Lord-"

Adam Vogel stood up slowly and bowed to Voldemort.

"At that time, Ekestore collapsed, and I thought Jasuna couldn't escape."

There wasn't much sadness on his face, but there was more confusion on his face when he turned to face Severus.

"Jasuna's wand was broken during the battle to capture Ockstadt, and she could not cast spells. Moreover, the German Ministry of Magic immediately sealed off the area near Ockstadt to capture the detainees lurking in the mountains and forests. criminal--"

Severus explained calmly,

"Jasuna couldn't apparate, so she could only hide in the mountains, so Amosta found her."

Adam nodded.

This statement reasonably explains why Jasuna was caught by Brian after so many days even though she was not dead.

"What a shame, Adam—"

Voldemort said,

"You trained an outstanding witch, but she fell into Brian's hands again. But don't worry, Voldemort can promise that I will restore her freedom-"

"I have no doubt about it, my dear Dark Lord—"

Adam said respectfully,

"After all, you rescued Jasuna and me from Azkaban."

Voldemort nodded with satisfaction, and then looked at his followers thoughtfully.

After a while, he looked at Adam again,

"So...how are the prisoners we rescued from Uxta? How are they doing now?"

Severus didn't move, just stared.

"They are all placed in one of my former strongholds that was not destroyed—"

There was a trace of expectation in Adam's old voice,

"When they knew that it was you who had freed them, they were all extremely grateful to you, and all of them swore to fight for you, my dear Dark Lord."

"Oh, really?"

Voldemort said unequivocally,

"It looks like we have some support again after the terrible loss in Diagon Alley."

"But I'm afraid it will be difficult for these people to enter the UK. Dear Dark Lord--"

Adam said,

"The British Ministry of Magic is now very strict in sealing the border. They have deployed a large number of open sentries, hidden sentries and surveillance magic on the border. The original smuggling channels are no longer usable."

"This wasn't my plan, Adam--"

Voldemort smiled,

“I have indeed been considering your previous advice recently, my dear Adam.

After Blaine formed that ridiculous combined force in the Federation and planned to use it against us across Europe, I started to think that maybe in addition to killing Harry Potter, Blaine should also be taught a lesson - -"

Voldemort said lightly, attracting curious looks from many Death Eaters.

"Your specific plan is-"

Adam looked at Voldemort eagerly.

"Brian wants to put more obstacles in the way for us.

And I will tell him how ridiculous his plan is and will never succeed. Maybe it is time for more people to realize how terrifying Voldemort is."

In the restaurant shrouded in darkness, Voldemort was humming softly. (End of chapter)