allendalepharm Chapter 325 Death Eaters, Take Your Seats
Chapter 325 Death Eaters, Take Your Seats
Chapter 325 Death Eaters, Take Your Seats
The most distinctive feature of Voldemort, who is no longer mentally challenged, is that if he is willing to get along with people, everyone can feel the warmth and comfort he brings.
This is a social skill he mastered at a young age.
Upon entering Hogwarts, he won the favor of almost all the professors and the welcome of many classmates. He was outstanding, handsome, refined, elegant, talkative, and erudite.
Even ghosts liked him, and Lady Grey, the daughter of the school's founder Ravenclaw, even gave him her hidden Ravenclaw tiara.
After graduation, he worked at the Bojinboke store, using this ability to make friends with wealthy women and cultivate a network of pure-blooded connections.
Many people are marveling at how many pure-blood families have gone to such lengths to fight until the entire family is wiped out. This is something that the Dark Lord's death threats could not achieve; it was once due to his unique personal charisma.
As the saying goes, when you give a gift, you must have something in mind.
Voldemort began to cultivate his relationship with Lockhart, agreeing to write potions books, take a position as vice-principal at Beauxbatons, help nurture Fleur, a promising student at the school, help deter the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic, and engaging in pleasant discussions about magical ideals.
Naturally, there are also desires.
"Actually, I possess a profound dark magic technique here, perfectly suited for the realm of relationship magic you're exploring."
Voldemort pulled a slip of paper from the inner pocket of his wizard's robe, shook it, and it quickly expanded into a thick book before handing it over.
Lockhart curiously took the book, his gaze falling on the gilded title on the leather cover—"The World's Islands."
Eleanor Gryffindor.
"Gryffindor?" Lockhart exclaimed in surprise, "Dark magic?"
Voldemort nodded. "The school's founders, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, were once the closest of friends. Salazar kept many of his things with his friends, and after his disappearance, many of his magic notebooks were kept by Gryffindor and not returned to Salazar's descendants. Thus, the Gryffindor family had the foundation for this research."
When discussing the school founder's personality flaws, he did not speak in a sarcastic tone, seemingly believing that everyone has flaws, which is normal.
"During the Middle Ages when Godric Gryffindor was active, fairies had not yet been completely tamed by wizards, and they still had a complete and healthy fairy kingdom."
"Gryffindor once commissioned King Legnac I of the goblins to forge a pure silver sword for him, agreeing on a time limit for its use through goblin cooperation. However, Gryffindor ultimately failed to return it, which led to a conflict."
"Of course, there are many different accounts of this history, and there is no definitive conclusion."
"All we know is that, in wizarding history, the Gryffindor family was one of the main contributors to the wizards' conquest of the goblins, and they eventually died out, leaving only one female direct descendant with autism."
Voldemort pointed to the book in Lockhart's hand, "These are her notes. In fact, dark magic is only judged by today's standards. In that era, I believe that even the most righteous wizard would gladly use the Killing Curse if he were fortunate enough to learn it, in the face of goblins slaughtering and enslaving humans."
Lohat nodded, showing no prejudice against it.
He himself is very skilled at using the Killing Curse.
Since Voldemort believed that the magic recorded in this book suited him, he began to read it without hesitation.
The book was written in the form of a diary.
Many ancient magic books were not in the form of monographs, but rather resembled wizards' magic notebooks. They recorded whatever came to mind, whatever they did, and whatever they encountered, thus forming the structure of a diary.
Although Eleanor Gryffindor, the owner of the magical books, is a recluse, he is also a learned and powerful wizard.
The book first records her research process on the "black magic creature sack cover".
She is clearly different from the average socially anxious person; she doesn't like being watched or interacting with others, but longs to be among lively crowds.
The invisibility cloak couldn't satisfy her desires, so she set her sights on the sacks of dark magical creatures.
But she soon became disillusioned; the sack cover constantly oppressed and eroded her spirit, making her feel increasingly lonely.
Later, she began to study spells, starting with the most common one, the "Disillusionment Charm," which allows her to become invisible like a chameleon.
The result was disappointing; the Disappearance Charm was even worse than the Invisibility Cloak, because walking among the wizards only made her more conspicuous.
Not only will their behavior seem strange, but they will also be suspected of having ulterior motives.
Then she began to delve into more magical realms, such as castle and covenant magic like the Fidelity Spell—
"Her research direction is wrong!"
Lockhart frowned and shook his head. "This will only make her worse. The corruption of dark magic will exacerbate her tendency to withdraw. She should actually study magic that leans towards spiritual light, such as Patronus Charms, and try some potions that can make her bolder or more courageous."
Voldemort nodded in agreement. "The prescription is correct, but that falls under the purview of a doctor. Human behavior patterns make it difficult for us to become our own doctors."
Right.
Lockhart continued to immerse himself in books.
Regardless of whether her direction was right or wrong, Eleanor Gryffindor was undoubtedly an extremely learned and powerful wizard. Every spell she studied was extremely profound, providing Lockhart with a great deal of inspiration.
After studying the book, Eleanor finally invented a spell that best suited her.
A Magical World on an Isolated Island.
Voldemort wrote a comment in red beneath the spell: It should be called: Self-Exile.
Lockhart recognized Voldemort's handwriting.
Isolated on a world island, in self-imposed exile, Lockhart vaguely sensed the scope of this magic.
Yes, it is indeed suitable for my research in the field of relationship magic.
As Lockhart delves deeper into Eleanor's magical research records, he seems to enter a wondrous magical world.
In this magical world, the relationships between people are no longer the strong relationships of "connection" and "order" that Lockhart emphasized, but rather weak relationships of "distance" and "scale".
This is no longer a question of whether it aligns with one's own magical philosophy!
This is the biggest supplement to my own research!
Lockhart's gaze turned greedy, as if he had been starving for three days and three nights and then received a roast chicken, frantically absorbing its nutrients.
Then----
At the most crucial point —
"That's it?"
Lockhart exclaimed, drawing the attention of Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Fudge, and the others who were discussing things in the office.
He ignored everything and flipped through the back of the book.
A full third of the page was blank!
He lowered his head and sniffed it, then instantly realized, "The important information has been hidden by the potion?"
Voldemort smiled slightly. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't do this. It was done by one of the headmasters of Hogwarts. It was a method to hide dangerous magical knowledge back then."
He gestured to one of the magical portraits on the wall, which depicted Principal Delis Devant, looking down at them with innocent eyes.
"I went to the principal's office to consult this lady, but unfortunately she didn't have that part of her memory, so I had to figure it out myself."
Dumbledore approached, took the magic book from Lockhart, glanced at it, then looked down at Voldemort. "This is the Hogwarts library, Tom. You cannot take it without permission!"
Voldemort gestured to another magical picture frame. "You'll have to ask the former headmaster, our Phineas Black. He donated a portion of the library to the International Wizarding Confederation in order to secure their support for Hogwarts."
"Later, in order to fulfill a certain instruction from Chief Wizard Albus Dumbledore, officials of the International Federation of Wizards had to publicly sell some of the miscellaneous items and books in the warehouse to raise funds."
"The Slughorn family acquired this book through auction, and my professor, Horace Slughorn, gifted it to me as an assessment for his Potions course."
When Voldemort spoke of his professor, his expression became somewhat strange.
In fact, Horace Slughorn is currently at Hogwarts, having been rehired by Dumbledore as a Potions Professor.
They had just exchanged a glance from afar in the castle. The professor who used to dote on him now looked at him with obvious embarrassment, his gaze darting away and creating a sense of distance.
If Voldemort considered Hogwarts his home, then Horace Slughorn was probably the more important patriarch than Dumbledore!
Dumbledore glanced unhappily at the former headmaster, Phineas Black, whose portrait was hanging on the wall.
Blake shrank back in the portrait and muttered, "It's not my fault. No one can figure out what's in the later parts of this book. It's a useless book. I had someone make a backup of everything that was visible. It's good that I gave the original to the International Wizarding Federation in exchange for the school's development."
Dumbledore gave him a deep look, thinking, "It's best for the sake of the school's development!"
But regardless of the circumstances, the magic books of Gryffindor's descendants now belong to Voldemort.
He had no choice but to return the books to Voldemort.
Voldemort handed the book back to Lockhart, saying, "Here you go."
Lockhart flipped through the pages of the book with some reluctance, "With my achievements in potions, this is useless to me."
Perhaps he could ask Snape for help?
"I studied it for two whole years and stumbled upon the solution during a moment of inspiration. If you're planning to ask Severus for help, you'll have to wait a long time, and you might never see it."
Voldemort smiled and pulled a vial of potion from his wizard's robe pocket, holding it between his fingers. "Just spray it on, and you can freely view its contents until it dries."
ohh~
Lockhart looked at the small vial of potion. "What do you need?"
He knew Voldemort's character all too well. If he wanted to appear generous, he would have already brought out the potion. Right now, he was clearly trying to get something from him.
"Bella!"
"Bellatrix Lestrange!"
Voldemort's gaze was deep and unreadable. "I know, you transferred her from Azkaban under the guise of assisting with experiments. I need her!"
This terrible world!
It leaks everywhere, like a sieve!
Dumbledore glanced at Fudge, who was secretly wiping his sweat. He knew that Fudge was the one who would do this for Lockhart.
That's one of the core Death Eaters!
Fudge thought to himself, "Severus Snape, whom you saved, is also a core Death Eater..."
Well, he dared not say it aloud, and could only awkwardly laugh and try to get away with it.
"It's possible, it's possible—"
Lockhart's expression was somewhat strange. "Tom, you know, I've said in my books that I've dedicated my life to fighting dark magic. Of course, even if you haven't read my previous books, you know that I've made achievements in the subfield of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the subfield of defense against dark magic creatures—the distortion and corruption of wizarding souls, and so on—"
Voldemort's gaze was brooding. "What are you going to say?"
He had a bad feeling; Lockhart was too strange, sometimes he would suddenly give people a big surprise.
Lockhart shrugged. "Like I said, I've achieved something. What I mean is, I've cured Bella's personality, which had been corrupted by dark magic. Surprisingly, she's become normal again, and she can even cast the Patronus Charm, although she can't form a tangible Patronus."
This is a lengthy research project involving many areas, including observational records of the treatment of Neville's parents.
This is a great achievement.
Even Dumbledore and Grindelwald had to marvel at it.
Voldemort frowned slightly. "So?"
"So while she still admires you, she might not be as obsessed as before," Lockhart grinned.
Voldemort looked up uncomfortably, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The departure of a loyal subordinate is the hardest to accept.
All of this stemmed from past failures, forcing him to accept Severus Snape's allegiance to Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy and Cobban Alex's allegiance to Lockhart.
And now, is Bella, who is most loyal to him, also leaving him?
"Let her go!"
Voldemort finally made his decision: "If she wants to come with me, she will naturally come to me; if she doesn't want to, at least let her live a good life!"
"OK!"
Lockhart agreed, even though he was facing Dumbledore of the Order of the Phoenix and Fudge of the Ministry of Magic, because he desperately needed the contents of this magic book.
"But I have one condition!"
He looked at the medicine bottle in Voldemort's hand. "I need its recipe. After I finish reading the book, I plan to donate both the book and the recipe to Hogwarts. Of course, our Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wouldn't mind making a copy of the book."
Voldemort smiled and handed over the potion. The quill on the desk next to him automatically flew up to draw ink and quickly wrote the recipe on the parchment floating nearby.
He gestured for him to leave, saying, "It's your freedom."
Lohat nodded. "Bella is currently helping out in the Bloodline Hall of the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic building. I'll bring her out."
"Okay," Voldemort agreed.
As for Aurora Clinger and Aurora Kingsley, who wanted to stand up and object, they ultimately shut their mouths in despair.
The powerful figures sometimes completely disregard the laws of the Ministry of Magic when it comes to their private exchanges of interests.
Even Dumbledore and their Minister of Magic, Fudge, didn't object, so what could they say?
The night deepened without us realizing it.
Lockhart and Voldemort emerged from Dumbledore's office and headed together toward the Forbidden Forest.
The place was particularly lively because so many foreign wizards had gathered there.
They encountered the Weasley twins, George and Fred.
The twins clearly didn't want much contact with Voldemort. Their parents were warriors of the Order of the Phoenix, and their two uncles had died fighting bravely against the evil Lord, so they had a naturally hostile stance.
Moreover, they achieved an epic feat by throwing snowballs at Voldemort's face, although they actually hit Professor Quirrell on the back of the head.
Upon encountering him from afar, they awkwardly bowed to Professor Lockhart and then tried to run away.
However, Voldemort called them back.
"George, Fred—"
Voldemort looked at them elegantly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "As your vice-principal, I suppose I should be able to obtain a Philosopher's Stone from you?"
"I'm sorry, we're sold out!" George said curtly.
"Yes, that's all!" Fred said, looking quite disappointed.
However, Voldemort simply raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and with a clinking of Galleons from George's robe pocket, a Philosopher's Stone appeared in Voldemort's hand.
"No need to thank me for patronizing your business."
Voldemort's voice was full of mockery as he casually put the magic stone into his wizard's robe pocket and walked straight ahead.
He saw two people not far away, looking anxiously in his direction, hesitating whether to go up and speak to them—Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch.
Lucius was clearly looking for Lockhart, but he didn't dare to approach because of his own presence.
But Mr. Barty Crouch seems to be looking for himself, and dares not approach because of Lockhart's presence?
Voldemort became somewhat curious.
Mr. Barty Crouch is a long-established pure-blood family representative with deep roots in the British Ministry of Magic and the British Wizarding Council, and is the kind of politician who is extremely typical.
It is difficult for politicians to become loyal subordinates.
Just like Fudge was to Dumbledore.
Even though Voldemort's pursuits aligned with those of the Crouch family, he still couldn't gain Barty Crouch's support because these politicians only valued interests, not their goals.
Voldemort did not use the methods of forcing those influential but unyielding pure-blood families to deal with the Crouch family because of Barty's son, Barty Jr., who was one of his most loyal Death Eaters.
Voldemort even once treated Barty the Younger as if he were his own son.
Just as Professor Horace Slughorn had cared for him, he cared for this beloved young man.
They have a deep relationship.
But I'm really not familiar with Mr. Barty Crouch.
Voldemort walked past Barty and headed straight into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, where he needed to find a place to settle down.
Sure enough, after hesitating for a moment, Buddy Crouch followed.
Until they reached the depths of the forbidden forest, there was no one around, only the howling of the banshee and the cries of birds announcing death.
Voldemort stopped, turned around, stroked the serpentine tip of his cane, and stared at him with a deep, unsettling gaze, without saying a word.
"Greetings," Barty Crouch said respectfully.
Voldemort nodded. "I can't think of any reason why you came to me. In the current situation, many people are extremely wary and worried about my existence."
Barty Crouch hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and asked, "During the match just now, I saw you sitting on the podium with Mr. Dumbledore, Mr. Grindelwald, and Mr. Lockhart?"
Voldemort chuckled. "I just came from Dumbledore's office."
These words made Barty Crouch's expression harden, his eyes darting around as he pondered the key point.
He made his decision quickly.
Choosing his tone carefully, he said, "I've heard that you serve as the vice principal of Beauxbatons, and your main job is to oversee the school's external affairs and to promote some reforms within the wizarding communities of Western Europe and America."
Voldemort shook his head. "It's not my reforms, but Lockhart's reforms, and they only apply to the field of education."
They're both seasoned foxes, so there's no need for any ghost stories. Mr. Barty Crouch sensed political opportunism, but Voldemort didn't like this politician who might be coming to his aid; he had absolutely no reliability.
Voldemort was a man who never doubted those he employed, and once he accepted someone, he would give them a great deal of trust. For example, he entrusted Bellatrix and Lucius with the Horcruxes that concerned his own fate.
It is precisely because of this characteristic that, contrary to the impression that he has countless followers, he actually accepts very few people who follow him.
Mr. Barty Crouch could only be considered a very peripheral interest group, which was not worth his time and effort to cultivate.
As long as there is profit to be made, these hyenas will follow him by scent.
simply put.
Voldemort has lost his patience.
Barty Crouch clearly sensed the rejection in Voldemort's tone, but hesitated for a moment. Only when Voldemort was truly about to dismiss him did he finally grit his teeth and say, "My son, Barty, I want to entrust him to you. Take him to Beauxbatons—no, take him to America, far away from here!"
Little Batty!
Voldemort's eyes suddenly turned sharp.
Now that he has finally established himself in the world in a way that Dumbledore and a few others can accept, he will naturally think about gathering his old followers.
Barty Jr. and Bella are both so important to him.
Powerful, intelligent, and extremely loyal.
"Isn't Bati the little guy locked up in Azkaban?"
Voldemort frowned.
"Every spell has a counterspell, and every order has its flaws," Barty Crouch recited an ancient proverb, smiling as he said, "Azkaban has existed for so long that our pure-blood families always find a way to escape."
Just as the oldest Black family knew how to use Animagus to escape Azkaban, the Crouch family figured out the use of Polyjuice Potion.
His wife, whose health was rapidly deteriorating, had used Compound Herbal Elixir to transform into her son in place of Barty. After dying in prison, she retained the appearance created by the Compound Herbal Elixir.
However, despite such a great sacrifice, the son he rescued disappointed Barty Crouch.
Like Sirius Black, the rebellious son of the Black family, Barty Jr. doesn't care about the family's interests and only wants to pursue his own goals.
That is, to find Voldemort, who had already been declared dead at the time.
As a result, Barty Crouch had to use one of the three unforgivable curses, the Imperius Curse, to control his son, a control that lasted for more than a decade.
Now that he knows Voldemort has returned as vice-principal, Barty Jr. is increasingly showing signs of slipping out of control.
The house-elf Sparkle often finds him and warns him to be wary of the situation, as Barty might escape at any time.
This made Old Barty finally realize that there seemed to be no point in continuing to control and detain them.
"I want to entrust my son to you, I just want a guarantee—"
Barty Crouch didn't dare wait for the Dark Lord to ask him for any guarantees, and continued, "Tell him not to come back to England. This is Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters."
"If possible, let him go far away, to America, to start a new life there." The latter part is a humble father's plea.
Old Bati had only one son, Little Bati, and he never remarried after his wife died. Little Bati was arguably his only hope.
As people get older, they begin to care whether their son will hate them, they crave family affection, yet they have no choice but to let go.
"Can!"
Voldemort gazed deeply at his humble father, and he knew that this was love—the love he had longed for, the love he had loathed, the love he had hated.
"I promise you!"
He made a solemn promise.
Barty Crouch could only manage a bitter smile, unsure whether to be grateful or hate the Dark Lord who had taken his son away.
"Tell me, Mr. Crouch, tell me how you got Barty Jr. out of Azkaban?"
Voldemort's gaze became so intense.
Crouch hesitated for a moment, thinking that Barty Jr. would probably reveal it after following Voldemort, and might even get involved, so he simply said it directly, "Polyhydral Soup. After using Polyhydral Soup to transform into the other person, your body will completely become the other person's. If you die before the potion wears off, you will retain your original appearance, and the transformation will be completely undetectable."
"Excellent!" Voldemort breathed a deep sigh of relief; this was the best news he had heard since his resurrection.
"I beg you!"
Old Barty's body was bent almost to the ground, so humble, "If you want to save those Death Eaters, please don't involve my son!"
Voldemort gazed intently at him, sighing, "Barty has a good father!"
But my son doesn't recognize me!
Old Barty felt only wailing and desolation.
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