Chapter 1241: An Unexpected Betrayal
Chapter 1241: An Unexpected Betrayal
Late at night, inside Borgin and Burkes.
Draco Malfoy sat in a worn armchair, holding a two-way mirror and quietly updating Bella on the other side with the latest information.
Through Bella, Draco received news from the Death Eater spy embedded in the Ministry of Magic. Albus Dumbledore was currently in Azkaban, discussing with Minister Scrimgeour strategies to counter Lord Voldemort's potential prison break.
Draco knew he had to wait for Dumbledore to return to Hogwarts before taking action, believing that the elderly wizard would be at his most vulnerable after a long day.
After all, one could never be too cautious when dealing with someone like Dumbledore.
Draco waited for a long time, well into the night, until everyone else had retired to their rooms. Finally, he received word from Bella that Dumbledore had left Azkaban and was on his way back to Hogwarts.
Under the gentle influence of the Felix Felicis, Draco knew that the opportune moment had arrived, and it was time to act.
Bella was quick to respond, and soon, the Vanishing Cabinet began to stir. Draco stepped back to give whoever was coming through sufficient space.
After a few seconds, the cabinet door opened, and Bella emerged without the mask that the Death Eaters typically used to conceal their identities, her face openly displaying her malicious intent.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Aunt Bella," Draco greeted her.
As one by one, masked Death Eaters stepped out of the cabinet, Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief. While Snape was the linchpin of their plan, the more people they had, the better he felt, and perhaps they could overwhelm Dumbledore with their numbers.
However, to Malfoy's surprise, among this group of Death Eaters were several unfamiliar faces, likely newly recruited Death Eaters or hired Dark Wizards.
The Malfoy and Lestrange families had spent a small fortune in Galleons to hire these additional hands for the assassination attempt.
While many Death Eaters didn't need the money, there were still those who were motivated by it.
Draco gave a slight nod to the group, acknowledging their presence, before launching into an explanation of the original plan and the course of action for the night.
"Where's Snape?"
Alecto scanned the room and, not seeing Snape among them, scoffed, "Looks like that coward planned to use us as bait from the very beginning."
"Snape has his own agenda," said Avery, who had a decent relationship with Snape. "It's best we don't force him into this, or we might mess up his plans."
"Quiet! We never counted on that sniveling coward, Snape, in the first place!" Bella roared at the noisy group. She was irritable because the plan wasn't going as smoothly as she had envisioned, and her sister Narcissa's disappearance had directly resulted in the loss of the Felix Felicis they had acquired. She even suspected that Narcissa had given the only bottle of the potion to Draco, which was why she hadn't returned to face them.
"According to the original plan, we need to split into two groups. One group will go after Dumbledore, while the rest of us will hold off the school's professors to buy time for the assassination," Bella said, emphasizing the most critical part of their mission that night.
No one was foolish enough to believe that Dumbledore would face them all alone.
Of course, this wasn't a difficult task, as they had already discussed it before arriving.
When Bella pulled out the Felix Felicis from her robe pocket and took a carefully measured sip, Malfoy understood and pulled out the remaining potion from his own pocket.
"So, Narcissa did give the only bottle of Felix Felicis to you," Avery said with a smile as he took the potion from Draco and took a sip before passing it to Alecto beside him. "But this should be enough. We don't need luck to last too long."
There wasn't enough Felix Felicis for everyone to have a sip, but it was sufficient for those who would be directly engaging Dumbledore.
Their journey was smooth, perhaps due to the potion's influence or the late hour, as everyone was already in bed. The group arrived at the Astronomy Tower without encountering any obstacles.
"Let's begin!" Avery said, turning to Malfoy. "The Dark Wizards outside will launch their attack on Hogwarts from the front gates once they see your Dark Mark. They will draw everyone's attention while we kill Dumbledore. After that, we'll leave through the Forbidden Forest because we don't know if the Aurors from the Ministry will reinforce Hogwarts. Our entire plan is based on the assumption that they will."
"You need to stay here and engage Dumbledore," Alecto continued, addressing Malfoy. "Draw his attention and create the illusion that he's only facing you. This will give us the opportunity to strike from the shadows. The chances of success aren't high, but it's worth a try, right?"
"I understand. I'll get started then," Malfoy said, nodding. He raised his wand and pointed it at the sky.
"Morsmordre!"
Despite never having cast this spell before, with the help of the Felix Felicis, he performed it effortlessly.
A burst of green light shot from the tip of his wand and transformed into a giant green skull-shaped cloud that floated above Hogwarts Castle.
As he watched the Dark Mark rise higher and higher, Draco murmured, "This will certainly give Dumbledore, who just returned, a big surprise."
But Dumbledore didn't keep Draco waiting for long, and his appearance took Draco by surprise. Instead of climbing up the stairs, Dumbledore appeared out of thin air with a flash of fire, accompanied by a phoenix, which looked at Draco with a smile. "Good evening, Draco."
Draco didn't say a word, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore.
"It's late, and you should be in your dormitory resting instead of loitering here," Dumbledore said, unconcerned by the boy's wariness and hostility. He looked up at the Dark Mark floating above and added gently, "And becoming a Death Eater is not a wise choice."
With a casual flick of his wand, Dumbledore deflected Draco's Disarming Charm and looked at the fearless boy before him. "Lord Voldemort has always lacked wisdom. I don't think sending an underage wizard to assassinate me is a wise move. He obviously intends to get you killed, and you should be aware of that."
"I have no choice," Draco said, his eyes locked on Dumbledore.
"I know you accepted the task, and I understand your predicament," Dumbledore said soothingly. "I can help you make the right choice before you do something irreparable."
"I won't listen to your manipulations," Malfoy shook his head.
"Why not hear me out?" Dumbledore said in a reassuring tone. "I can convince Scrimgeour to hide your family in a safe place, somewhere even Lord Voldemort can't find you, until this Wizarding War is over. Trust me, it won't be long before Lord Voldemort is finished. You must have noticed the heavy losses the Death Eaters have suffered in the past year. Even Lord Voldemort has had to behave himself."
"Really? But... why?"
Draco fell silent, as Dumbledore wasn't lying, but he couldn't understand why Dumbledore would want to help him, a Death Eater.
“Of course it's true, neither Voldemort nor Albert are a match for me, and they will soon...suffer heavy losses." Dumbledore suddenly waved his wand towards the entrance, forcing Bella's group, who had been preparing to ambush him, to reveal themselves.
"Good evening, Bella. Oh, and you've brought a group to kill me," Dumbledore said calmly, as if welcoming them to tea. "But if I were you, I would have definitely tiptoed before attempting an ambush!"
"You're isolated, old man. You're finished," Bella said, pointing her wand at Dumbledore and sneering.
"Isolated? You probably haven't realized that it's actually you who are isolated. This whole thing was a trap from the start!" Dumbledore was not flustered at being surrounded by Death Eaters; instead, he spoke with a casual tone. "Who do you think suggested that you come to Hogwarts to kill me? Who provided the Vanishing Cabinet? Who do you think fixed the Vanishing Cabinet?"
"That's impossible."
Draco couldn't help but be shocked, his face revealing his astonishment as he stared at Dumbledore, indirectly confirming that the old wizard had not lied and that he had been manipulated from the beginning.
"Nothing is impossible. Snape has been on my side from the start, and reinforcements are on their way. None of you will escape tonight," Dumbledore said, standing tall with his wand raised, as if he were the one surrounding them.
"You used me?"
Malfoy glared at Dumbledore and spat out a dark curse.
However, Dumbledore easily subdued him. "You're not ready to kill, child. Don't let yourself fall into darkness."
"Take him away from here, Severus."
Snape appeared out of nowhere and used magic to catch Draco, who was under Dumbledore's control, and prepared to take him away from the scene.
The sudden turn of events stunned the Death Eaters who had come to kill Dumbledore.
Wasn't Snape supposed to be on their side?
Wasn't Snape supposed to have an unbreakable pact with Narcissa?
Wasn't Snape supposed to take the opportunity to assassinate Dumbledore?
But now, Snape had betrayed them and led them all into Dumbledore's carefully crafted trap.
And Narcissa's sudden disappearance...
Could her sister have also betrayed the Dark Lord and sided with Dumbledore?
"You damn traitors," Bella snarled, her eyes blazing with anger. She immediately fired a deadly curse at Snape, but he deflected it with a spell.
"Your opponent isn't me," Snape said as he took Draco away from the battlefield.
"The Dark Lord will not let you off easily," Bella roared at Snape's retreating figure.
"Ignore Snape. Now is the best opportunity for us. Make your move!"
Whether it was Alecto or Avery, they seemed to realize something and immediately signaled the other Death Eaters to surround Dumbledore.
They had no other choice. Once the other professors joined in, it would be difficult to have such a good opportunity again.
The Death Eaters stood close together, forming the tightest formation often used by the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic, their wands all pointed at Dumbledore.
"Kill him."
A barrage of colorful dark curses rained towards Dumbledore's position, sealing off any possible escape routes.
This was the crowd control tactic often used by the Aurors, relying on their numerical advantage to overpower their enemies. And now, the Death Eaters were forced to use it against Dumbledore.
The scent of death loomed, but Dumbledore was not the least bit flustered. Fawkes, who had been flying above them, suddenly dived and took the brunt of the Death Eaters' initial assault for Dumbledore.
Fawkes let out a mournful cry and fell heavily to the ground, burning fiercely before turning into a pile of ashes.
Taking advantage of the opportunity created by his old friend, Dumbledore waved his wand and unleashed a powerful force towards the Death Eaters, forcing them to abandon their offense and focus on defending against his unknown spell.
A loud bang echoed, as if something had collided, causing people to want to cover their ears.
The supposedly impenetrable magical barrier actually showed cracks, and the Death Eaters who had successfully blocked the spell collectively inhaled sharply.
Fortunately, they had chosen to trust the warning from the Felix Felicis.
However, before they could catch their breath, the magical barrier was directly pierced by a golden spell, and one unlucky Death Eater was hit, instantly drained of all his strength, and fell backwards, his fate unknown.
Everyone was shocked, probably not expecting Dumbledore to strike so ruthlessly. The golden spell sent shivers down their spines.
Spread out! Someone shouted, causing the Death Eaters to abandon their tight formation and attack Dumbledore from different angles.
If they hadn't been standing so close together just now, that unlucky Death Eater might have been able to dodge the golden spell with the help of the Felix Felicis.
However, this was undoubtedly a mistake.
When they were tightly united, they might have had a chance to take down Dumbledore. But now that they had dispersed, they were even less of a match for him.
Dumbledore displayed agility that belied his age, dodging Bella's deadly spell and quickly waving his wand to deflect the curses of the other dark wizards.
Just as the ambush seemed about to succeed, Dumbledore, as if he had eyes at the back of his head, casually deflected the dark magic with his wand.
"How is this possible!"
Seeing his stealth and dark magic so easily countered, the Death Eater could not accept it, and the brief moment of surprise on his face was seized upon by Dumbledore, whose cloak seemed to come alive and wrap around the Death Eater's head, while his robe tightened like a belt, binding him tightly.
In just one encounter, a Death Eater was temporarily taken out of the fight.
Although the Felix Felicis could greatly enhance its user in all aspects, it could not make up for the huge gap between them and Dumbledore.
Moreover, the location Draco had chosen was not favorable for them either.
While the Astronomy Tower allowed them to take advantage of their numbers, it was on the condition that they maintained that advantage and used their superior numbers to overpower their enemy.
However, the current situation clearly showed that Dumbledore held the upper hand, and their numbers had become a hindrance as the limited space made it difficult for them to dodge spells, reducing the advantage granted by the Felix Felicis.
One of the Death Eaters seemed to want to rush downstairs, perhaps seeking help from the other Death Eaters who were supposed to intercept any reinforcements, but he was hit by a spell from behind and fell down the stairs.
In fact, even if reinforcements arrived now, it would be too late, as there was already commotion coming from below, indicating that the professors were engaging the Death Eaters.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Deafening explosions rang out, and in the distance, a barrage of fireballs flew towards Hogwarts, slamming into the iron gates surrounding the school and nearly blowing them off their hinges.
"This is quite a ruckus," Dumbledore glanced towards the direction of the school entrance and murmured, "Looks like we've caught more fish than we expected with this net."
(End of Chapter)
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