Chapter 404 The truth thirteen years ago, Dumbledore's protection
"Get up, Lucius." Lord Voldemort said expressionlessly, "Given your loyalty, I will not blame you for now. I hope you will continue to serve me well in the future."
"Of course, Master, thank you for your magnanimity." Lucius said.
Lord Voldemort looked at the others and said coldly, "Thirteen years, a long thirteen years.
I want you to repay thirteen years of debt, and only then will I forgive you."
"Master." Pettigrew weakly raised his left hand, "I'm back."
"You have indeed repaid some debt." Lord Voldemort said indifferently, "But not out of loyalty, but out of fear. You were afraid your old friends would come to settle accounts with you."
Pettigrew curled up, trembling as he clutched his right hand in fear.
"However, you still proved useful, especially these past few months, Wormtail.
Lord Voldemort will not mistreat those who have helped him." Lord Voldemort ran his wand over Pettigrew's severed hand, and a gleaming silver hand seamlessly connected to his stump.
Pettigrew no longer felt pain. He tried to clench the silver hand, and the feeling of blood connection made his breathing heavier. "Master, thank you, Master."
"I hope your loyalty to me does not waver, Wormtail."
"It won't, Master, absolutely not."
"The Lestrange couple should be here. They are loyal, preferring to be imprisoned in Azkaban rather than betray me.
When Azkaban is breached, they will receive rewards beyond their wildest dreams. Dementors are our natural allies, we will recall the banished Giants, I will gather all my loyal servants, and once again possess a group of magical creatures feared by all… Lucius, I trust you are still willing to lead the torment of Muggles… Macnair, you are eliminating dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic, soon there will be even better things for you to eliminate… Crabbe, Goyle…"
Lord Voldemort, like a capitalist, painted a picture of grand promises for his Death Eaters. He clearly delineated power, granting them conditions they craved but could not currently fulfill.
However, the Death Eaters believed him implicitly, because they had possessed similar power once before, thirteen years ago.
Harry and the others, however, felt their scalps tingle and their hearts pound.
They were only a few years old when the Dark Lord's influence covered the magic world, so they knew little about it.
As they grew up, they had no interest in learning, nor any opportunity, because everyone around them was tight-lipped about it.
"No wonder my father said it was the darkest time for the magic world." Cedric said despairingly, "But we probably won't live to see it."
"It seems the magic world is about to fall into chaos again." Aaron sighed, "But that doesn't concern me much. No matter how chaotic the world gets, Gaius can still look out for himself."
The four of them looked at Aaron simultaneously, not understanding where he got the confidence to say such a thing.
"There are still a few people who haven't come." Lord Voldemort shook his head, "Three died for me, one didn't have the guts to return, and he will pay the price. And one, I believe, has left me forever, and he will be executed.
But what pleases me most is that my most loyal servant is still here, isn't that right, Crouch?"
The fake Moody walked proudly to the front of the group, just as the Polyjuice Potion wore off.
His body began to change drastically, the scars on his face disappeared, his hair turned light yellow, his prosthetic leg was pushed out by a real leg, and a real eye replaced the constantly rolling magical eyeball.
Barty Crouch Jr. appeared in everyone's sight. He scanned the other Death Eaters, his gaze full of disdain and mockery.
After all, his achievements were undeniable; he was undoubtedly the greatest contributor to the Dark Lord's resurrection.
"At Hogwarts, my loyal servant, through his efforts, brought a little friend here." Lord Voldemort looked at the bound Harry Potter, and mocked indifferently, "Harry Potter, I hear your fame is as great as mine.
But what excites me even more is that he also brought another guest, Aaron Gaius."
"Hello everyone." Aaron awkwardly raised his hand, then looked at Lord Voldemort, "Can I untie the three of them? We shouldn't need to be guarded against now, right?"
"As you wish."
"And our wands."
Lord Voldemort gave Barty a look, and he immediately returned the four wands.
Aaron untied the three and handed them their wands one by one.
"He just gave them back to us so easily?" Fleur said, a little disbelievingly.
"He was extremely weak just now, and any accident could have interrupted his resurrection ritual. But now, he can crush us like ants, there's no need for precautions at all." Aaron said seriously, "A wand can at most give you a bit of unrealistic security, but our situation hasn't changed in the slightest."
"What about Harry?" Cedric asked in a low voice.
"Brother, can you be a bit more perceptive?
Do you really think you few can compare to Harry Potter?"
Aaron felt speechless. Lord Voldemort was clearly going to make an example of Harry Potter to dramatically announce his return.
For a prisoner to ask someone to release their enemy, what difference is that from courting death?
"Knowing when to adapt, that's what I admire most about you." Lord Voldemort praised, "If they had made that request to me, I would have killed them without hesitation.
An ordinary Hufflepuff, a bumbling Durmstrang, and a Beauxbatons 'vase' are of no value to me."
The three of them were furious upon hearing this, but they were speechless, not knowing what to say even if they had the courage to retort.
They were merely the chosen ones of their magic schools, while the other was the infamous Dark Lord; they were not on the same level at all.
"The Boy Who Lived." Lord Voldemort walked up to Harry Potter, "Your legend is built on lies. Shall I tell you the truth of that night thirteen years ago? Shall I tell you what exactly caused me to lose my magic?"
"Shall I tell?"
Lord Voldemort turned to look at the Death Eaters, deciding to satisfy their curiosity and also provide a reasonable explanation for his failure thirteen years ago.
"Because of love. When the lovely Lily Potter sacrificed her life to save her only son, she simultaneously provided the maximum protection.
It was an ancient magic, one I should have remembered, but foolishly overlooked."
"The Blood Protection Charm." Aaron murmured, "Harrywas lucky. To willingly sacrifice one's life for a loved one is the most moving power in human history."
"That's right, that spell rebounded my Killing Curse onto myself, but… do you know why they are called Death Eaters?" Lord Voldemort asked meaningfully, "To conquer death. I have gone further than anyone on the path to immortality.
I merely encountered a small test, and though it took a while, I undoubtedly passed it."
Aaron: … It's the first time I've seen someone describe their fear of death so elegantly.
"Thirteen years of lingering on, I had even stopped fantasizing that my loyal Death Eaters would come looking for me, when Wormtail found me.
Out of fear that his old friends would come after him, he needed a patron.
Fate favored Lord Voldemort. He unexpectedly encountered a Witch from the Ministry of Magic, Bertha Jorkins, and then caught her by surprise.
We obtained very useful intelligence: the Triwizard Tournament, and news of a loyal servant."
"Then you controlled Crouch, rescued Barty, and then together you subdued Alastor Moody, using his hair to continuously make Polyjuice Potion, thereby allowing Barty Crouch Jr. to enter Hogwarts and put his name into the Triwizard Tournament trophy." Aaron mused, "As for the purpose, it must be Harry's blood, right?"
"This is an ancient Dark Arts ritual." Lord Voldemortexplained with a laugh, "The servant's flesh is ready, the father's bone chose this place, the enemy's blood… there were so many choices, but only Harry Potter's blood was the most suitable, because it could break the magic his mother left on him."
"There's a small problem. If you only wanted Harry's blood, there was no need to go to such great lengths, was there?" Aaron asked, puzzled. Harry Potter was the most trouble-prone person in all of Hogwarts. The number of times he had been injured over the years was countless. Getting his blood seemed unusually easy.
"Because he was too well protected, something he himself didn't even know.
Dumbledore made too many arrangements for him. That Muggle family was a torment for him, but he didn't know that as long as he had relatives, even I couldn't touch him.
And Hogwarts? A lingering, half-dead me couldn't harm him right under Dumbledore's nose.
But outside of these two places, he was with that Wizardfamily who liked Muggles from morning till night.
And when he finally was alone, the Ministry of Magic would search for him with all their might."
Hearing this, Aaron secretly clicked his tongue, and for a second, inexplicably felt sympathy for Lord Voldemort deep down.
At the same time, he also thought of his bodyguard team. They, too, seemed to have diligently and tirelessly protected him in the shadows for over a decade.
But at crucial moments, they would fail. For example, now, his distress signal had been sent out for over ten minutes, and not a single person had come, not one.
"But it doesn't matter, the situation has changed now." Lord Voldemort suddenly raised his arm, his pale, slender fingers pressing on the scar on Harry's forehead, "I can touch you now."
Harry felt an intense pain in his head, but because he was bound to the statue, he couldn't even struggle.
"Crucio!"
Ah!
Excruciating pain struck again, and Harry twitched constantly, his eyes rolling back from the agony.
He felt as if his heart was being gnawed by worms, and every bone in his body was being sliced by knives.
The torment made him wish for death, and even unconsciousness seemed like a luxury.
Cedric couldn't bear to watch and was about to raise his wand to stop Lord Voldemort, but Aaron was a step ahead.
A blue light shot directly towards Lord Voldemort, but it was blocked by Barty before it could get close. However, Lord Voldemort also interrupted his torture of Harry because of this interlude.