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Chapter 108: A Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor.

The garden was a lush green, filling the entire estate with its color. Dense rows of beautiful trees lined the stone paths, and a magical fountain spouted in the center of the garden. White peacocks wandered freely, adding a touch of opulence and nobility.

Yet the master of this grand residence stood in the purple wallpapered living room, bowing and scraping before a man with a bald head, twisted features, and a sinister expression.

"Lucius, how did you fare with the task I assigned?" the twisted man asked in a rasping voice from the chair at the front of the room.

"It\'s all taken care of, Master," Lucius said, bending deeply, almost to the floor, in a deeply respectful manner. "I\'ve used a significant amount of money and the connections left by the Malfoy family to pave the way for Alecto to advance."

"According to reliable sources, he\'ll soon become the third in command at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Lucius\'s head was bowed so low that his face, full of bitterness and resentment, was hidden from view.

With the considerable wealth of the Malfoy family and Lucius\'s own talent for flattery and manipulation, he had become a prominent Death Eater during the First Wizarding War. However, he had fallen out of favor with Voldemort after losing an unknown dark artifact.

Now, Lucius had lost his former status within the Death Eater ranks. He felt that his position in Voldemort\'s eyes had become that of a disposable pawn, to be discarded once he had outlived his usefulness and drained the Malfoy family\'s remaining wealth.

Thus, Lucius felt deep resentment and even contemplated betrayal.

Thinking about the list of dark artifacts he had sold to Dracula a few days ago, Lucius felt a twinge of panic, but his anger and resentment quickly suppressed it.

"You\'ve done well, Lucius," Voldemort\'s raspy voice came from the front of the room.

Even though his tone was encouraging, his eyes were red and cold, like a snake with a cold, bloodthirsty nature. "You\'ve devoted your estate and countless resources to paving the way for Alecto at the Ministry of Magic. You\'ve certainly worked hard."

"I am always fair in my rewards and punishments. So tell me, is there any reward you desire?"

"Serving you is the greatest reward I could wish for, Master!" Lucius said with obsequiousness.

Yet, despite his words, his face remained twisted with resentment, showing no trace of genuine flattery.

"Do you think I don\'t know you, Lucius?" Voldemort\'s long, spider-like fingers interlocked, and his red eyes fixed on Lucius\'s lowered gaze. "If I didn\'t give you the reward you deserve, you\'d probably start thinking about how to betray me, wouldn\'t you?"

Hearing Voldemort\'s ominous words, Lucius\'s heart raced. He feared Voldemort had learned of his plea for help from Dracula.

"Master, I..." Lucius nearly blurted out his dealings with Dracula in his panic.

Fortunately, he was interrupted before he could speak.

"Let me think, what would be a fitting reward..." Voldemort\'s sinister smile made Lucius\'s heart pound with anxiety.

"I\'ve suddenly thought of a rather interesting idea," Voldemort\'s mouth split into a terrifyingly wicked grin. "Lucius, you have a son, don\'t you? I see he\'s not in your estate, so he must be at Hogwarts now, right?"

Lucius\'s face turned ashen.

He had waited until the start of term at Hogwarts to offer Malfoy Manor to Voldemort, specifically to keep his son Draco away from the Death Eaters\' mess.

But Lucius had not anticipated that Voldemort would suddenly mention Draco.

The Dark Lord seemed to be using his son as a potential hostage to prevent Lucius from betraying him!

"Is something wrong? You don\'t seem willing?" Voldemort\'s indifferent gaze fixed on Lucius\'s panicked face. He extended his bony, skeletal-like wand towards Lucius\'s face and playfully tapped his pale cheek.

Lucius\'s mind went blank, trying to refuse Voldemort\'s so-called "reward," but he found himself unable to utter the words of rejection.

At that moment, from the other end of the long table in the living room, a voice spoke, subtly coming to Lucius\'s rescue—

"Master, Draco is my student. He\'s still too young and unruly, which could hinder your plans." Snape spoke calmly from his position at Voldemort\'s right-hand side, clearly indicating his high status. "If you need Draco to join the Death Eaters, I can pay more attention to him over the next two years and quickly develop him into the kind of talent you require."

"Very well." Voldemort glanced at Snape and nodded slightly. "Since Severus has said so, we\'ll postpone this \'reward\' for another two years."

He gestured for Lucius to return to his original seat.

Lucius let out a sigh of relief, giving Snape a grateful look, and then bowed deeply once more before sitting down in the second seat to Voldemort\'s left.

The seat directly to Voldemort\'s left was occupied by a relatively tall, pompous wizard dressed in ornate robes, with his pale blonde hair neatly braided into a single plait.

Seeing Lucius sit down next to him, the arrogant wizard smiled lightly and said:

"Thank you for this, Lucius. You must have spent quite a bit of money and used your connections for my promotion, didn\'t you?"

"Not at all, Aksley." Lucius, still shaken from his previous anxiety, glanced at the wizard next to him with a blank expression and replied.

The arrogant wizard named Aksley worked at the Ministry of Magic.

Recently, he had been the one to inform Lucius, after hearing from Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, that the Ministry planned to search Malfoy Manor.

Ironically, the anonymous letter reporting Malfoy Manor was sent by Voldemort himself, who was now seated in the main position. Although Lucius avoided the Ministry\'s search due to Aksley\'s tip, he lost Voldemort\'s trust in the process, which allowed Aksley to replace him in his previous position.

Not long ago, after Voldemort announced his return using the Dark Mark on his Death Eaters\' arms, Aksley had joined his former master.

Upon learning that Aksley held a significant position at the Ministry, Voldemort saw the opportunity to use him to infiltrate and control the Ministry, thus gaining more influence in the magical world and challenging Dumbledore and Dracula.

Therefore, Voldemort instructed Lucius to use all of the Malfoy family\'s resources to pave the way for Aksley at the Ministry!

"I\'m actually wondering, with the power of the Aksley family and your Malfoy family combined, why am I only able to sit in the third position at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" Aksley said softly. "Could it be that you haven\'t put in your full effort, Lucius?"

He stared directly at Lucius, his eyebrows raised, with deep lines of frown etched on his forehead.

"Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour\'s positions are not so easily shaken!" Lucius retorted angrily, glaring at him. "You know that! The current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Head of the Auror Office are known for their iron-fisted approach, not to mention their families have significant influence too!"

"Influence?" Aksley sneered dismissively. "Are you referring to the Bones family, which is full of Hufflepuffs, or the Scrimgeour family, which has very few members?"

"Even without considering their influence, neither of them has any significant blemishes in their political careers. How can we possibly remove them from their positions?" Lucius argued. "Aksley, after working at the Ministry for so long, don\'t you have any judgment of your own?!"

Aksley\'s face darkened as he slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair.

"Both of you, be quiet!" As their argument grew louder, Voldemort said coldly. "Lucius is right; it\'s indeed difficult to remove them from their positions. Aksley is also correct that a mere third position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement cannot contribute much to our grand plans!"

"Master, we can wait until Bones and Scrimgeour\'s terms end..." Lucius adjusted his slightly disheveled clothes from the earlier argument and spoke seriously.

"That would be too late; we must push Aksley to a higher position in a short period!" Voldemort interrupted. "Since they have no political blemishes, let\'s create one for them..."

"What do you think will happen if Azkaban is breached during their tenure as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Head of the Auror Office?"

Voldemort\'s lips curled into a cold, thin line as his crimson eyes scanned the Death Eaters present, causing them to hold their breath in fear.

Among the Death Eaters present, only Snape seemed unaffected by Voldemort\'s presence.

He calmly asked, "Master, do we need to rescue our comrades who are imprisoned in Azkaban?"

"Yes, unlike you cowardly, retreating fools who only think about exonerating yourselves after my departure and couldn\'t even be bothered to look for them symbolically..." Voldemort looked at the gathered Death Eaters with a sneer. "Those imprisoned in Azkaban are my most loyal and trustworthy allies!"

"Our attack on Azkaban will not only rescue our most reliable allies but also create a significant blemish on Bones and Scrimgeour\'s careers, thus advancing Aksley\'s position. It\'s a win-win!"

The Death Eaters enthusiastically applauded, praising Voldemort\'s brilliant plan in various ways.

Amidst the praise, Voldemort showed a self-satisfied smile, then suddenly turned to Snape. "Severus, are you feeling scared?"

The compliments fell silent as everyone\'s eyes turned to Snape in confusion.

"I don\'t understand your meaning, Master," Snape said, feigning a slightly bewildered expression.

"No, you understand my meaning very well." Voldemort chuckled. "What I mean is, after I rescue our most loyal allies, will you be afraid that your current position might be threatened?"

Snape\'s pupils contracted slightly.

He understood that Voldemort had not yet fully trusted him and that this question was just another subtle test.

Snape remained vigilant internally but showed no sign of it on his face.

He replied, "The comrades in Azkaban are also my friends."

"Excellent!"

Voldemort laughed, his voice both raspy and sinister, as if a demon from hell was laughing.

"Excellent, Severus!" he said, patting Snape\'s shoulder. "I didn\'t misjudge you!"

Snape feigned a surprised expression, but his mind remained on high alert, not relaxing for a moment.

As a fellow undercover agent, Lucius did not need to be as tense as Snape.

He was already a fence-sitter, with some alignment with Voldemort\'s ideology.

Therefore, even though Lucius\'s mental occlusion was not as refined as Snape\'s and only covered details of his meeting with Dracula and a list of dark artifacts, Voldemort had not detected anything amiss.

This was because Voldemort had anticipated, or rather, understood the nature of the Malfoy family as fence-sitters, so he was not surprised by Lucius\'s occasional thoughts of escape.

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

"Are you planning to invade Azkaban now?"

The black-haired youth asked softly, holding a diary in his hand.