After Grindelwald's Elder Wand activated Barty Jr.'s Dark Mark, the scene temporarily fell into an eerie silence.
Aside from Karkaroff, who was still preparing the potion and setting up the resurrection ritual Voldemort was about to use, neither Barty Jr. nor Grindelwald spoke. They merely watched Karkaroff work in silence, as though waiting for something.
And so they waited—for a full five or six minutes.
During that time, Karkaroff had already prepared everything needed for the resurrection ritual. All that remained was to place Voldemort's soul inside.
Meanwhile, Durmstrang Castle, enclosed beneath its massive shield, remained utterly silent and motionless. It was as though the people inside had completely lost the will to resist and could only cower behind that sturdy barrier, watching helplessly as the Dark Lord made his return, unable to do anything at all...
Crack!
Suddenly, a sharp sound broke the silence.
A figure cloaked in black Apparated not far from Grindelwald.
"You are..."
Seeing the figure appear so abruptly, Grindelwald merely glanced at him once before losing interest. Barty Jr., however, carefully studied the silhouette, his eyes gradually narrowing.
"You're... Avery?"
"It's me."
The Death Eater named Avery still had sweat beading on his forehead. First, he bent deeply toward Grindelwald, panting heavily despite receiving no response. Only after adjusting his breathing did he turn toward Barty Jr.
"Ludo Bagman... You're Crouch, aren't you?"
"Sorry. The distance from Britain to here was a little farther than expected... I'm guessing this must be the far north of Europe, yes? But it seems I was the fastest one here. The others should be right behind—"
Crack!
Before he could finish speaking, another explosion sounded from nearby, cutting him off. Another black-robed figure emerged from the air.
That person seemed to symbolize the beginning of something. In the very next instant after his arrival, the cracks of Apparition began bursting through the air one after another, forming a rapid, continuous series of sharp sounds. More and more figures gradually appeared on Durmstrang's grass...
"Nott, Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Rabastan, Carrow, Yaxley..."
Barty Jr. watched them and softly recited the names of the arrivals.
Those who had arrived now, like himself, had all once been branded with that glorious mark, and so they were the first group able to sense the Dark Mark's summons and hurry over.
But he knew very well that most of these people were merely opportunistic cowards. After the master fell, they had avoided imprisonment by cutting ties or betraying their companions, while they themselves lived freely and comfortably as the master suffered.
Even among those who had participated in planning this operation, most had merely provided a few insignificant Galleons and resources.
By contrast, among the few who had truly contributed greatly to the master's resurrection, only "Wormtail" possessed the Dark Mark. The rest—people like Shafiq and Rosier—had not been the master's servants over a decade ago.
Fortunately, that senile old Dumbledore publicly violated the collective interests of the pure-blood families. Only that forced so much power to turn toward the master and greatly sped up his resurrection... Those Death Eaters who weren't thrown into Azkaban should be ashamed!
Barty Jr. thought resentfully.
When the master they swore loyalty to was in danger, it was actually this group of self-interested people who had to lend assistance... Thankfully, there are still truly loyal people like me, Karkaroff, and Wormtail...
But don't think the matter of you betraying so many companions is simply over, Karkaroff, even if you are personally handling the master's resurrection ritual. You'd better think carefully about what the master will do to you when he wakes and sees that so many of his servants have ended up in Azkaban...
He quietly glanced again at Karkaroff, who stood beside the resurrection altar, and cursed him inwardly.
Whether he was angry over Karkaroff's betrayals back then, or jealous that the one preparing Voldemort's resurrection ritual was Karkaroff rather than himself, even Barty Jr. could not quite say.
A while later, the cracks of Apparition finally began to subside. The once-empty Durmstrang grounds were now occupied by dozens of black-robed wizards.
Some were former Death Eaters. Others were pure-blood wizards who were not Death Eaters but had still participated in Voldemort's resurrection plan.
There were even quite a few Death Eaters who had not participated, and had not even heard of the plan at all. After sensing the change in their Dark Marks, they had hurried over in panic and were now nervously asking the people beside them about the situation.
There were more than a few such people.
"Is everyone here?"
Once the sound of Apparition had fully disappeared, Barty Jr. began counting the people present one by one.
"Bella, Rodolphus, and Dolohov aren't here, because they're currently in Azkaban. Severus Snape didn't come either, and he wasn't involved when the plan was designed back then. It seems he really has betrayed us completely..."
"Wait. Where are Wormtail and Shafiq?"
Barty Jr. suddenly froze.
"Where did those two with the greatest contributions go?"
Wormtail needed no explanation. During his twelve years in hiding, he had accumulated an enormous amount of crucial intelligence. Even the situation of Barty's own imprisonment had been discovered through his personal investigation.
Organizing the Triwizard Tournament, replacing Moody and Bagman with Polyjuice Potion—those plans had all been his ideas. And he himself had always been responsible for the ultimate insurance of the entire operation.
It was no exaggeration to say that for this operation's success, at least half the credit belonged to him.
As for Johnson Shafiq, head of the Shafiq family, who had not previously been a Death Eater...
He was the one who had helped contact Gellert Grindelwald and ultimately persuaded him to lend his aid.
Just the act of inviting Grindelwald to intervene was enough for his contribution to surpass that of everyone involved except Wormtail.
What was more, Grindelwald's participation had also brought them another unexpected surprise. That surprise was very likely something even the master himself had not noticed, and it had become the final insurance against the plan's total failure, entrusted personally to Wormtail, who was best at hiding, to carry out...
...Hm?
Not far away, Grindelwald, who had been quietly observing the group, also could not help frowning. A faint trace of confusion flashed through his eyes.
Johnson Shafiq not coming at this stage was something planned from the beginning.
But...
Why had Peter Pettigrew not appeared either?
That had not been part of the plan.
Forget it.
He shook his head and stopped thinking too deeply.
He probably ran into some unexpected situation. In any case, with the Unbreakable Vow and Minerva and the others watching him, the most important matter definitely won't go wrong...
Now then, it is time to welcome the final match.
(End of Chapter)