While Harry and Ron were still complaining about the first week of school, Harry's nemesis Voldemort was muffling to do big things—

A grand mansion with exquisite and modest gardens.

A surging green stained the entire courtyard, and in the open spaces on both sides of the stone road, no less than 100 beautiful trees were densely planted. A magic fountain gushes in the middle of the garden, and white peacocks roam freely in the garden, looking luxurious and noble.

The owner of the mansion, however, grovelled to the side of the purple wallpaper-covered living room, nodding incessantly to a bare-headed, distorted man, and grim-looking man.

"Lucius, how did I do with what I told you?" The hideous-looking man sat on a chair at the front of the living room and asked hoarsely.

"It's done, master." Lucius bent down deeply, buried his head almost in the ground, and said respectfully, "I have used a lot of money, as well as the connections that the Malfoy family has retained, to pave the way for Yaxley's promotion."

"According to reliable sources, it won't be long before he becomes the third-in-command of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Lucius buried his head very low, so low that people could not see the unwillingness and anger in his expression at this time.

Originally, with the Malfoy family's considerable wealth, and Lucius's own ability to flatter and grasp people's hearts, he easily became a hot upper-class Death Eater during the First Wizarding War set off by the Death Eaters, and was one of the top few people among the Death Eaters.

However, Lucius was snubbed by Voldemort because he lost an unknown dark magic device.

Today, Lucius no longer has the prestige of the Death Eaters in the camp of the Death Eaters.

He could feel that his position in Voldemort's heart was equivalent to that of an outcast ready to be discarded at any time, and when he had squeezed out the last of his interests and squeezed out all the Malfoy's property, he would be thrown into the trash like trash by Voldemort.

Therefore, Lucius was very unwilling in his heart, and he had a bit of a betrayal thought.

Thinking of the list of dark magic equipment sold to Dracula a few days ago, Lucius still felt a little flustered for a while, but then he was suppressed by his anger and unwillingness.

"You're doing a good job, Lucius." Voldemort's hoarse voice rang out from the front of the living room.

Even with the encouragement in his mouth, his eyes were scarlet and his gaze was cold, like a cold and bloodthirsty snake, "You have done your best these days by giving away your manor and countless possessions to pave the way for Yaxley in the Ministry of Magic."

"I've always had clear rewards and punishments, tell me, do you have any rewards you want?"

"Being able to work for my master is the reward I want most!" Lucius said in a flattering tone.

However, his face buried deep in the ground was full of unwillingness, without the slightest hint of flattery.

"Don't you know you, Lucius?" Voldemort's eerily long fingers crossed like spider legs, and his scarlet eyes looked into Lucius' lowered eyes, "If I don't give you the reward you deserve, you're afraid you'll start thinking about how to betray me when you turn around, right?" ….

Hearing Voldemort's grim words, Lucius looked up in panic, thinking that the Dark Lord knew about his request for help from Dracula.

"Master, I ......" Lucius panicked, and almost told him about his meeting with Dracula.

Thankfully, he was interrupted by Voldemort before he could speak.

"I think it's better to give you some reward......" Voldemort smiled grimly, seeing Lucius's heart flutter.

"I suddenly thought of a very interesting idea," Voldemort suddenly cracked his mouth, revealing an extremely terrifying grin, "Lucius, you should have a son, right?" I don't think he's in your manor, so he's already going to school at Hogwarts, right?"

Lou

Theseus's face finally changed completely.

He deliberately waited until Hogwarts opened before sacrificing Malfoy Manor to Voldemort, just to prevent his son Draco from getting involved in the mess of the Death Eaters.

But even if Lucius racked his brains, it was hard to imagine that Voldemort would suddenly mention Draco.

The Dark Lord wants to take his son as a hostage so that he will not betray!

"Why, don't you want to?" Voldemort looked at Lucius' panicked expression, and indifferently stretched out his bone-white wand to his face, and slapped his pale side face with his wand lightly.

Lucius's mind went blank, and he wanted to refuse Voldemort's so-called "reward", but he didn't dare to say no words of refusal when he opened his mouth several times.

At this moment, on the other side of the long table in the living room, under the golden chandelier, a voice rang out, and unobtrusively relieved Lucius—

"Master, Draco is my student, and he's too young and stubborn to delay your big business." Snape said unhurriedly, "If you need Draco to join the Death Eaters, I can give him a little more in these two school years and develop him into the talent you need as soon as possible."

Snape sat upright on Voldemort's right hand side, which was enough to show that he had a high enough status in Voldemort's heart.

"It's fine." Voldemort glanced sideways at Snape and nodded, "Since Severus said so, then this 'reward' will be issued to you two years later."

He beckoned to Lucius and motioned for him to return to his seat.

Lucius breathed a sigh of relief and gave Snape a gesture, then bowed deeply again and sat down in the second position on Voldemort's left-hand side.

First to Voldemort's left is a relatively tall wizard dressed in a magnificent robe, with long blond hair braided into a neat braid.

Seeing Lucius come and sit down beside him, the haughty wizard chuckled and said:

"Thank you this time, Lucius, for spending a lot of money and connections on my promotion, right?"

"You're welcome, Yaxley." Lucius hadn't recovered from his previous panic, glanced at the wizard next to him, and said with a blank face.

The haughty wizard named Yaxley worked for the Ministry of Magic.

Some time ago, it was he who stumbled upon the Ministry of Magic's upcoming search of Malfoy Manor from Amelia Bones, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office, and informed Lucius about it. ….

Ironically, it was Voldemort himself who was sitting on the throne at Malfoy Manor who wrote an anonymous letter, and Lucius, although he was freed from the Ministry of Magic because of Yaxley's information, also lost Voldemort's trust, allowing Yaxley to take his place.

Not long ago, when Voldemort announced his return with the help of the Dark Mark on the Death Eater's arm, Yaxley rushed to join his former master.

When he learned that Yaxley's status in the Ministry of Magic was not low, Voldemort thought that he could gradually infiltrate and master the Ministry of Magic, so as to gain a greater voice in the magical world, and use it to compete with Dumbledore and Dracula.

Therefore, Voldemort ordered Lucius to use up the Malfoy family's resources and pave the way for Yaxley in the Ministry of Magic!

"Actually, I'm thinking, with the power of our Yaxley family and your Malfoy family, how can I only be allowed to sit in the position of the third-in-command of the Magical Law Enforcement Division with the financial resources of two of the twenty-eight holy clans?" Yaxley whispered, "Could it be that you haven't done your best, Lucius?"

He stared at Lucius intently, his eyebrows raised, and the forehead wrinkles on his forehead crinkled in cascading together.

"Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour are not so shaky!" Lucius glared at him in annoyance, "You know! This year, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Director of the Auror Office are known for their iron skills, not to mention their respective families

It's not without power!"

"Forces?" Yaxley scoffed, "Are you talking about the Hufflepuff-filled power of the Bones family, or the power of Scrimgeour who has few people in the entire family?"

"Even if power aside, there are not even a slightly bigger stains on the political careers of the two of them, how can we remove them from power?" Lucius retorted with reason, "Yaxley, have you not had any judgment skills after working in the Ministry of Magic for so long?!"

Yaxley's face darkened, and he slapped heavily on the arm of his seat.

"You two can be quiet!" Just as the arguing between the two men was further amplified, Voldemort said coldly, "Lucius is right, the two of them are really not good to get out of power; Yaxley wasn't wrong, a mere third-in-command of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would not help our cause at all!"

"Master, we can wait for Bones and Scrimgeour to end their terms......" Lucius said as he straightened out his clothes that had become a little messy from the argument he had just had.

"Then it's too late, we'll have to push Yaxley to a higher position in a short time!" Voldemort interrupted, "Since they don't have any political stains, you might as well help them create a stain......

"What do you say would happen if Azkaban was breached during the tenure of the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Director of the Auror Office?"

Voldemort's two thin lips were coldly hooked, and his scarlet gaze scanned the many Death Eaters present, so frightened that they didn't dare to gasp. ….

Of the Death Eaters present, Snape was the only one who was not affected by Voldemort in any way.

He asked calmly, "Master, are we going to rescue the other companions who are being held in Azkaban?"

"That's right, it's not like you cowardly, withdrawn cowards who only cared about exonerating yourself after I left, and didn't even bother to do a symbolic search......" Voldemort looked at the Death Eaters present and sneered, "Those companions who are imprisoned in Azkaban are my most loyal and trustworthy companions!"

"We launched an attack on Azkaban, both to rescue our most reliable companions and to bring a huge stain on the careers of Bones and Scrimgeour to propel Yaxley to the top. Kill more than one stone!"

The Death Eaters applauded enthusiastically and began to tout Voldemort's plan in a variety of ways.

In the midst of the compliments, Voldemort smiled smugly, and then suddenly looked at Snape beside him, "Severus, are you scared?"

The compliment fell silent, and everyone present focused their eyes on Snape in a daze.

"I don't understand what you mean, master." Snape also put on a slightly dazed expression at the right time.

"No, you know what I mean." Voldemort chuckled, "I mean, after I rescued my most loyal companions, would you be afraid that your position would be shaken at this time?"

Snape's hole shrank slightly.

He understood that Voldemort probably had not yet fully trusted himself, and that this question was just another less obvious temptation.

Snape was alert, but his face didn't show any hint.

He replied, "My companions in the Azkaban are also my friends."

"Good!"

Voldemort laughed. His laughter was hoarse and wicked, like a demon from hell laughing.

"Very well, Severus!" He smiled and patted Snape on the shoulder, "I didn't misread you!"

Snape made a flattered look at the right time, but the Occlumency was still on its fullest, and the vigilance in his heart did not relax in the slightest.

He didn't know if this meant that Voldemort really recognized him completely, or if he had planted the Ecstasy Array again. So I can only force myself not to relax at all times.

Also being an undercover agent, Lucius doesn't need to be like Si

Nate was so tired.

He is a character like Wallgrass, and he also has a recognition of Voldemort's philosophy in his heart.

So even though Lucius's Occlumency was not as proficient as Snape's, and he only concealed the details of his encounter with Dracula and the list of dark magic tools listed, he was not found to be abnormal by Voldemort.

Because Voldemort had already guessed, or rather understood, the nature of the Malfoy family's wallgrass, it was not surprising that Lucius wanted to escape from time to time.

Just as Voldemort wanted to continue explaining the timing and plan of the attack on Azkaban, a handsome young man with black hair suddenly appeared in the living room of Malfoy Manor like a shadow.

"Are you planning to invade Azkaban now?"

The black-haired young man asked softly with a diary in his hand.

……

…….

Ripples of dust