94 hp Diagon Alley

Lifting it away, Harry saw that the mark had changed to jet black.

A look of cruel triumph appeared on Voldemort's face.He straightened up, raised his head, and scanned the dark cemetery.About a minute later, his eyes fell on Harry again, and the snake's face twisted into a cruel smile.

"Harry Potter, you're standing on my father's corpse," he hissed softly. "He's a Muggle and an idiot... just like your own mother. But they're both useful, Isn't it? Your mother died to protect you when you were little... I killed my father, look how useful he was after he died..."

Suddenly the air was filled with the rustling of cloaks.Between the graves, behind the fir trees, in every shadowy place wizards apparated.They were all hooded and covered their faces.They walked over one by one... slowly and carefully, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.Voldemort stood silently waiting.A Death Eater fell to his knees, crawled up to Voldemort, and kissed the hem of his black robes.

"Master...Master..." he whispered.

The same was true of the Death Eaters behind him, each kneeling and crawling up to Voldemort, kissing his robes, then stepping aside, standing up and forming a silent circle.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort calmly. "Thirteen years... It's been thirteen years since we last met. And yet you answer my call just like yesterday... That is to say, we are still united in the Black Under the magic mark! Is it?"

He raised his hideous face, opened his two slit-like nostrils and sniffed.

"I smell guilt," he said. "There's a stink of guilt in the air."

The circle trembled again, and it seemed that everyone wanted to step back, but dared not move.

"I see you, all healthy and as good as ever - arrived so quickly! - I ask myself...why haven't these wizards come to help their masters and those they swore eternal allegiance to?"

No one spoke, no one dared to move.

"I answered myself," said Voldemort softly, "that they must have believed that I was doomed, that I was doomed. They slipped back among my enemies and said they were innocent, ignorant, bewitched..." said Then, he glanced at Avery contemptuously.

"It disappoints me...I admit I am disappointed..."

Voldemort said softly, "I won't forgive. I won't forget. Thirteen long years... I want you to pay off your debts for thirteen years before I forgive you. Avery has paid some debts, hasn't he, Avery?" Free?"

He looked down at the little Death Eater.He was still there sobbing.

"You came back to me not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friend. Avery, if Crouch hadn't found you, would you have continued to hide? Like that Wormtail who is greedy for life and afraid of death. You know That's it, isn't it?"

"Yes, master," Avery moaned, "please, master... I will always be loyal to you..."

"But you helped me regain my body," Voldemort said coldly, watching Avery sobbing on the ground, "although you are a despicable deserter... claiming to be under the Imperius Curse...you helped me... Voldemort He will not treat those who have helped him badly..."

Voldemort raised his wand again, waved it in the air, and the tip of the wand drew a band of light like molten silver, shapeless at first, then twisted into a gleaming human hand, as bright as moonlight .It flew off by itself and settled on Avery's bleeding wrist.

"My lord," he said softly, "Master... so beautiful... thank you... thank you..." He crawled over on his knees and kissed Voldemort's robes.

"I hope your loyalty will not waver again," said Voldemort.

"Lucius, my sly friend," he whispered, pausing before the man, "I hear that you have not given up on your past actions, despite your sanctimonious face before the world. I believe Would you still take the lead in torturing Muggles? But you never went looking for me, Lucius... Your Quidditch World Cup was interesting... but if you put your energy into finding and helping your master , isn't it better?"

"Master, I have been very attentive," Lucius Malfoy's voice came quickly from under the hood, "as long as there is any signal from you, as long as there is any rumor of your whereabouts, I will rush to your side immediately. , nothing can stop me—"

"But you ran away last summer when a loyal Death Eater fired my mark into the air," said Voldemort lazily—Mr. Malfoy suddenly shut up, "Yeah, I know, Lucius...you have disappointed me...I hope you will serve me more faithfully in the future."

"Of course, Master, of course...you are generous, thank you..."

"Here are six Death Eaters missing...Three died for me, one didn't have the guts to come back...will pay the price. The other, I think, left me forever...He's going to be executed of course...and There is one who is still my most loyal servant, and he has returned to my service."

There was a small commotion among the Death Eaters, and Harry saw the masked men surreptitiously exchanging glances.

"He is at Hogwarts, my loyal servant, thanks to his hard work, our little friend will come here tonight..."

A group of people all looked at Harry. "Yes," Voldemort's lipless mouth twisted into a smile.

He lolled over to Harry's side, and all eyes were on the two of them.The big snake continued to wander there.Voldemort touched his skin with the cool tip of a long, pale finger, and his head ached like it was going to explode.Voldemort chuckled in his ear, removed his finger, and continued speaking to the Death Eaters.

"Friends, I admit that I miscalculated. My spell was blocked by the woman's foolish sacrifice and bounced back on myself. Ah... the pain surpassed everything, friends, and nothing could resist it. I was Stripped of my body, I am worse than a ghost, worse than the humblest wandering soul... But I am still alive. What I am, I don't know until now... I, the person who has gone farther than anyone else on the road to longevity .You know my goal - the conquest of death. Now that I have been put to the test, it appears that at least one or two of my experiments have worked...for I did not die, though the spell was deadly. However, I was like The weakest creature is powerless, unable to help itself..."

There was another silence, no movement, not even the yew leaves.The Death Eaters were motionless, the glittering eyes on their masks staring at Voldemort, and then at Harry.

"Then, less than a year ago, when I had almost given up hope, hope finally came... a servant found me. Barty Crouch Jr., who escaped from Azkaban, was killed by his father Casting the Imperius Curse, he hides at home in a daze every day, and survives under the confinement of lowly elves. When he wakes up, he decides to return to his master. He has long been rumored to be my hiding place. looking for me..."

"But his return to me was not smooth. One night, he had come to the edge of the forest and was about to find me. Because he was hungry, he foolishly walked into a hotel . . . Met Bertha Jorkins there - a witch from the Ministry of Magic."

"Now look how well fate has looked after Voldemort. This encounter could have killed Crouch and my last hope of resurrection. But he was so calm that he convinced Bertha Jorkins and his Walked together in the night. He subdued her...brought her to me. This Bertha Jorkins, who could have ruined everything, was a gift I couldn't have dreamed of...for, with a little convincing, I She gave a lot of information."

"She told me that Hogwarts will hold the Triwizard Tournament this year, and also told me that there is a loyal Death Eater who will be willing to help me as long as I can get in touch with him. She told me many things... …But the method I used to break the Oblivion Charm on her was too powerful. By the time I had extracted all the useful information from her, she was too damaged mentally and physically. She was done for. I couldn't Get attached to her and get rid of her."

Voldemort grinned horribly, his red eyes becoming hollow and unfeeling.

"Crouch is of course not suitable for possession, because everyone thinks he is dead, and it would be too conspicuous to be seen. But he brought me a strong-bodied servant, Avery, although a lame Sorcerer, but able to carry out my instructions, and give me a preliminary weak body in which I can wait for the ingredients needed for true regeneration...with a spell or two I invented...and my dear A little help from Nagini,"—Voldemort's red eyes looking at the serpent as it continued to swim in circles—"a potion of unicorn blood mixed with Nagini's venom . . . Three medicines—the bone of the father, the flesh of the servant, and the blood of the enemy."

"But how did you get Harry Potter? He's so well guarded that I don't think he even knows it. Long ago, when Dumbledore was thinking about arranging the boy's future, he specially designed A protection plan. He used an ancient magic to ensure that the boy was protected as long as he was in the care of his loved ones. Not even I could touch him...