war and peace

"Yes, Master." Snape untied the things on his back, stepped forward, and handed them to Voldemort with both hands.The counterfeit that was ready to be used to confuse the real one had already been prepared, but he didn't dare to bring the counterfeit made by the wizard, because it would definitely be discovered by Voldemort.But what did Voldemort want Gryffindor's sword for?It's impossible to make a Horcrux anymore, right?And there are not many people who can really pull out this sword.Was it discovered?Discovered that Dumbledore planned to let him wait for an opportunity to send the real sword to Potter to use it to destroy the Horcrux?But this is impossible, how could Voldemort know?

Many conjectures flashed through Snape's head, but he was an extremely brilliant Occlumency master, maintaining his usual blank eyes and stiff expression, and he couldn't see any abnormalities.

But Voldemort didn't bother with him either.He untied the rope on the package, opened it, and a sword inlaid with rubies appeared in front of everyone.Beyond that, there was something black, coiled and tattered, but no one noticed it under the brilliance of the jewel.

The Lestranges hadn't seen Gryffindor's sword in person, but that didn't stop them from hearing about it, and neither had Yaxley and Nott.Lucius Malfoy looked at the sword in amazement. Few people even in Gryffindor could pull it out. What did the Dark Lord want it for?Is the decoration nice?

The next second, they realized they were all wrong.A clear and dignified sound pierced the air, echoing endlessly in the entire circular space. "Sure enough." Voldemort narrowed his eyes and looked at the sharp blade, and after a while, he inserted it back into the sheath again.Sure enough, as he expected...

The six Death Eaters were completely dumbfounded.This man is really their Dark Lord, right?Then why can the Dark Lord, who is known as the descendant of Slytherin, pull out the sword of Gryffindor?This is completely unreasonable!However, it is impossible to express doubts about the Dark Lord. Nott, who is good at observing facial expressions, laughed and shifted the blame: "Severus, is this really the sword of Gryffindor?"

"Of course." Snape replied with a straight face, his tone was blunt, and he looked offended, which was very in line with the reaction he should have in this situation.But in fact, the most surprising person in the audience was him.

The Dark Lord took Gryffindor's relic from him, and he was still able to use it... Why did he have a bad premonition that Dumbledore's previous plans and arrangements for his death might all go to waste?If that's the case, what are they doing?The pupils in his dark eyes flickered slightly, and he decided to tell Dumbledore immediately after returning.

When he had been told that Voldemort had returned to his original form, he had looked even more shocked than himself.And when Voldemort asked him to get the sword and the sorting hat, shock can no longer be used to describe their feelings-the sword can still think of a little reason, but what does Voldemort want the sorting hat for?As a Slytherin through and through, Voldemort couldn't possibly be interested in a dusty, broken hat, nor could he know the secret of the Sorting Hat.Moreover, this time Dumbledore knew that Voldemort could pull out Gryffindor's sword, so he couldn't...

Snape couldn't think anymore.

Voldemort tapped the sword with his wand, and it whirled and disappeared into thin air, as did the black scroll.Only then did the others come to their senses and were even more puzzled.Forget about Gryffindor's sword, why does the owner of such a tattered thing want it?And bundled up like that, it's impossible to see what it was originally.But thinking about it, even Bellatrix wisely didn't ask.Because it was useless to ask, unless Voldemort thought they should know.

Suddenly, everyone felt a burning sensation on the inside of their arms.Voldemort tilted his head slightly, and waited for the feeling to pass before he said, "It looks like someone has broken into the Ministry of Magic." His tone was very calm.

The complexions of the six people changed in unison.Some Death Eaters who were not here passed the news to them. Someone pretended to be an official of the Ministry of Magic and sneaked into the Ministry of Magic, which caused quite a commotion.Nott and Yaxley hurriedly said: "Master, then we..." In front of Voldemort, of course they had to behave positively, but they all saw happiness in each other's eyes: fortunately they were not in the Ministry of Magic, otherwise they would be run away by the savior ([-]% is the savior), the master's anger is not easy to bear.

"It's too late now." Voldemort wasn't nervous at all, he was already very disappointed with his large group of men.Moreover, he was well aware of what had happened, and in fact the situation had been created with his willful connivance.

The three of Harry asked Mundungus about the whereabouts of the locket, then sneaked into the Ministry of Magic and got it from Umbridge.Voldemort only hoped they were a little wiser and knew not to go back to 12 Grimmauld Place by now.First of all, he deliberately prevented Kreacher from seeing him, and did not prohibit Kreacher from speaking about his existence, just for this.And Yaxley, who caught Ron before and caused him to disapparate in the leaving apparition, was summoned here by him, but there was no accident.

Voldemort slipped his wand back into his robes.The preparations that should be made have been done, and the sword has been obtained... Then it is time for him to play by himself...

Nott looked carefully at Voldemort's expression, and asked hesitantly, "What about the half-blood wizards who are being interrogated, master?" Didn't a lot of them escape in the mess?

"Do you still have to ask? It must be captured again!" Bellatrix said decisively first.

Voldemort waved his hand, not looking at her at all. "Do what I have ordered, and everything else must make way for it." His hard-working plan cannot be ruined by these people's self-assertion.

"Yes, Master." A group of Death Eaters answered in unison.Although they have changed their appearance, the master is still their master, that's right...

After the meeting, Nott and Yaxley rushed back to the Ministry of Magic to clean up the mess.The Lestrange couple had nothing to do, so they volunteered to help them catch the people who had escaped (in case Voldemort didn't know it).Malfoy had always put on a show in front of people, but with a mask on, he was more than happy to do it.Snape thought about his own thoughts, said goodbye to them, and hurried back to Hogwarts.

After listening to his description, there was silence in the principal's office.All the previous Headmasters are fretting in the frame - Sirius' great-great-grandfather frowning, Armando Dippet leaning on his chin and sighing; and Dumbledore, with his fingertips facing each other and half moon glasses It slipped halfway down the bridge of the nose without noticing it. "It turns out that the legendary castle really exists," he said at last. "The question is how did Voldemort find it."

"I'm not interested in that," Snape said, pacing the office, his steps small now, his black robes beating slowly. "You should reconsider what happened before, Dumbledore. The Dark Lord looks completely normal—in this case, can killing Horcruxes achieve his goal?"

Dumbledore watched him from the portrait. "It seems to me that it's the same. According to you, he changed his appearance in just a few days; it's the same now, and he suddenly found the castle that Slytherin left behind-what will happen?" Is it by chance?"

Snape paused.Then he started to walk again, but this time the pace was slightly faster, revealing the master's anxiety. "The Dark Lord didn't say anything—he said it was magical integration, but I think that was completely perfunctory. And his intentions are completely unclear now, and several orders are inexplicable!"

"Was it still the snake face in the Death Eater meeting where Professor Bubadi died? It changed after three days?" Dumbledore reassured. "Hasn't anything of note happened these days?"

Snape stopped again, trying to remember. "No, I'm really sure..."

"Yes," a voice cut in suddenly, and both Snape and Dumbledore turned to look, it was Phineas Black. "Didn't I say that? I wanted to visit the portrait of myself in Blake's old house a few days ago, but I couldn't see anything - I don't know who threw my portrait in a completely black place! It's called domestic The elf didn't respond either! It's like this these days... If it didn't happen by accident, someone deliberately didn't let me know that Harry and the others were there...someone was guarding me!" he said hastily.

"It is reliable news that they have just left the Ministry of Magic, and the Death Eaters have not caught up with them." An old wizard with a red nose added. "Based on this guess, it is basically certain that Harry and the others were at 12 Grimmauld Place before? Moreover, there have been Death Eaters squatting outside since the past few days."

"Then, I think that house-elf has probably been instructed by someone." Dumbledore's face became serious. "Harry has no reason to do this, and Bellatrix and Narcissa are still left in the Black family."

Bellatrix was a devoted follower of Voldemort, and Narcissa was no better.If one of them had ordered it, it would have been dangerous for Harry to live there, especially since the house-elf had always disliked Sirius and his godson.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and then someone hurried out of the portrait to inquire about the news.

A moment later, someone ran back yelling again. "I went to Tonks' house, and the portrait of Andromeda told me that Lupine had a falling out with Nymphadora a few days ago, but they are reconciled now—I heard that I went to Grimmauld Place 12 I was told by Harry later!" This was obviously a relative of the Tonks family.

"Did Lupine say something unusual?" Dumbledore asked immediately.

The man in that portrait disappeared again, only to reappear more out of breath. "Lupine... went there again and found that Harry and the others were no longer there! Neither were the house-elves! But he said that the house was clean and there was nothing unusual about it. They probably left not long ago..."

"It seems that Harry and the others have realized the danger." Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief, "They didn't go back after they went to the Ministry of Magic..."

Snape, who had been silent since just now, did not relax at all. "Potter and the others have not been taken away, but we have completely lost their traces from now on... Moreover, the Dark Lord took the Gryffindor sword and the Sorting Hat was also taken away by him, how do we get the sword?" Bring it to Potter to destroy the Horcrux? Also, the person who brought your relic to Potter is not Scrimgeour himself, no one knows who is pretending to be him, what if that person tampered with it?"

Dumbledore was silent.Everything Snape said was true.His plans had been perfect, but this sudden change threw them all into chaos.Judging from the current situation, Voldemort seemed to be very confident, neither angry nor surprised.And he was able to pull out the sword of Gryffindor, and at the same time he was going to walk away from the sorting hat, which basically confirmed that he had a very deep understanding of the sword.He also blocked all the channels he might know, and he actually did this basically impossible thing... According to this analysis, the person pretending to be Scrimgeour is most likely him, but if it is him, Then there's no way Harry is still alive... What the hell is Voldemort trying to do?And what was he missing?