Chapter 1363: In the Name of Revenge
Chapter 1363: In the Name of Revenge
In a distant corner of England, the Leaky Cauldron pub was bustling with patrons, a rare occurrence since the rise of Voldemort. However, the pub owner, Old Tom, was far from happy. He half-heartedly polished glasses while surreptitiously eyeing the foreigners in his establishment with concern, fearing they might bring trouble.
Old Tom wanted nothing more than to find an excuse to kick all these customers out, but his years of experience running the pub told him that would only bring disaster. The events of the other night in Hogsmeade hadn't made it into the Prophet, but Old Tom knew about them. Like many witches and wizards, he had been secretly listening to the broadcasts of the Wizarding Wireless Network and could guess that the group before him were foreign Dark Wizards.
From the angry looks on their faces, it wasn't hard to tell how they felt about Death Eaters. Old Tom knew better than to draw their ire, especially since Dark Wizards were not known for their reasonableness. But he couldn't shake his worry about a Death Eater suddenly walking into the pub, which would undoubtedly lead to a terrifying situation.
Sometimes, what you fear comes to pass.
Just as he was serving a Frenchman, who was struggling with his English, a warm glass of whisky, Old Tom's eyes drifted to the door, and his heart leaped to his throat at the familiar figure that entered.
It was a troublemaker named Rudolph, who, by virtue of being pure-blooded, had been invited to join the Death Eaters. Since then, Rudolph had taken to frequenting the pub whenever he could, always drinking on the house.
Old Tom wondered if Rudolph had lost his mind, showing his face at this time. Was he courting death? If those foreigners discovered he was a Death Eater, they'd surely kill him.
To Old Tom's dismay, Rudolph proceeded to stick a poster on the pub wall with the Sticking Charm, the contents of which were unknown to the owner.
Once he was done, Rudolph tapped his wand sharply, drawing the attention of everyone in the pub. Clearing his throat under Old Tom's increasingly furrowed brow, he addressed the room: "Ladies and gentlemen, I bring good news. Hogsmeade will soon reopen to the public. But please remember, it is now a Dark Market established by the Dark Lord, and no one may enter without his permission..."
Before Rudolph could finish, he was interrupted by a cruel blow to his stomach, causing him to curl up on the floor like a cooked shrimp.
The next moment, a sharp scream pierced the Leaky Cauldron.
"Sorry, I didn't expect such a violent reaction. I thought Death Eaters would be tougher," the blond Frenchman apologized, shrugging helplessly to the room before turning his wand back to the fallen Death Eater.
A piercing scream filled the air once more.
"What a beautiful song," cooed a middle-aged wizard, "it reminds me of mermaids out of water." He thoughtfully shut the pub door.
And so, the Leaky Cauldron became lively. All the pent-up anger that had been building finally had an outlet.
Watching Rudolph, who had been so full of himself just moments ago, now screaming in agony like a pig being slaughtered, Old Tom felt his legs turn to jelly. He dared not send word to the Death Eaters, nor could he leave the bar.
Old Tom was all too aware of the terrible consequences if he did anything to intervene, so he gritted his teeth and continued to polish glasses behind the bar, feigning ignorance of the unfolding events and occasionally serving drinks to the unruly crowd.
As he watched the detestable Death Eater writhing in pain from the Cruciatus Curse, Old Tom felt a surge of inexplicable pleasure, but he also worried about the trouble that would come if Rudolph died in his pub.
"What is Yaxley thinking?" he muttered to himself.
Ever since the Death Eaters' night raid on Hogsmeade, their reputation among foreign Dark Wizards had plummeted. How could they think any Dark Wizard would want to join them now? Was Yaxley taking everyone for a fool?
In fact, Old Tom wasn't the only one thinking this. Foreign Dark Wizards had heard through various channels about the events of that fateful night.
The renowned Beuxbatons had perished, allegedly overwhelmed by a horde of Death Eaters and Dementors.
Many Dark Wizards who had stayed in Hogsmeade had also lost their lives, and those who surrendered were controlled by the Imperius Curse, forced to become lackeys of the Death Eaters and give up half their wealth to stay alive.
It was outright robbery.
For Dark Wizards from all over Europe, this was unacceptable. They didn't care who had been killed, as that was none of their business, but the Death Eaters' actions disgusted them.
What was even more laughable was that, despite their terrible reputation and ridiculous behavior, the Death Eaters still expected them to join?
Did they think people would willingly fall under the Imperius Curse and join their ranks?
They must think everyone was an idiot.
The whole situation had become a joke.
"I plan to leave Britain soon," the blond wizard from France said, taking a sip of his hot whisky. He calmly shared his plans with his companions, a group of fellow foreign wizards he had met recently.
"Those Death Eaters can't be trusted. You must have heard how they've been taking people's possessions as their own. If they do it once, they'll do it again. Who knows if they'll run out of money again and come after us in the night?"
"We came to Britain to make money, not to be robbed by those despicable cowards," a middle-aged wizard with brown hair seethed. "I'm leaving too, but it's a bitter pill to swallow. They ruined a perfectly good black market."
Everyone fell silent.
If the black market was still under their control, it would be a paradise for all the Dark Wizards in Europe. Unfortunately, that paradise lasted for less than a week.
Retaking the black market was out of the question, especially since it was the Death Eaters' lair, and Voldemort himself was involved. After what happened the other night, no one would dare attempt such a thing.
"I plan to make one last score before leaving Britain and teach those scumbags a lesson," a young, dark-haired male witch from the next table suddenly spoke up. "Since they dared to attack us in the middle of the night, why can't we do the same to them?"
"That's a brilliant idea!" the blond Frenchman chimed in. "We'll be leaving Britain after that anyway. Even if those Death Eaters make a fuss, they won't have the guts to chase us overseas, and do they even know who attacked the black market?"
"Count me in. I won't rest until I've had my revenge," the brown-haired wizard said, his voice filled with murderous intent.
"Just the lot of you?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, I think we should plan this carefully," said another young wizard as he joined the conversation.
"For example..." The Frenchman trailed off, inviting suggestions.
"For example, we could interrogate that Death Eater and find out more about their operations in Hogsmeade, or we could pretend to go back to the black market to continue trading and then make our move during the night..." The young wizard made a slashing gesture across his throat to illustrate his point.
"Since the Death Eaters have stooped so low, we owe them no courtesy. I need to recoup my losses before I leave Britain for good."
The surrounding Dark Wizards exchanged glances, tempted by the prospect of one last score before departing Britain.
After all, the Death Eaters had already attacked them, so there was no need to hold back.
As more and more Dark Wizards in the Leaky Cauldron warmed up to the idea of a final heist, the Frenchman's table attracted quite a crowd, including many who had been initially hesitant but now wanted a piece of the action.
No one wanted to miss out on an opportunity to teach the rule-breaking Death Eaters a lesson and line their own pockets in the process.
"Why don't we take the opportunity to rob the Death Eaters as well?" someone suggested. "If too many people join the operation, I worry there won't be enough to go around in the black market. But from what I've heard, those who are invited to join the Death Eaters are usually pure-blooded wizards from wealthy families. Even if most of their galleons are stored in Gringotts, it doesn't mean there aren't other valuables in their mansions."
"Exactly! It'll be our revenge for Beauval!"
They quickly found a convenient excuse for their upcoming robbery.
Behind the bar, Old Tom stared at the unfolding scene in disbelief. A sense of foreboding washed over him, and just as he thought, a curse flew in his direction.
"Don't kill him. And don't kill those Death Eaters over there either. Control them with the Imperius Curse; we don't want to alert the Death Eaters before our plan is in motion."
A so-called revenge plan, which was essentially a robbery, soon took shape in the Leaky Cauldron, and all the Dark Wizards present showed remarkable patience in plotting their next move.
Their targets now included not just the black market but also the wealthy Death Eaters, even though most of their wealth was likely stored in Gringotts.
On the contrary, no one kept all their valuables in a single place.
As the group of foreign Dark Wizards eventually dispersed from the Leaky Cauldron to make their final preparations, one of the young witches who had been at the center of attention earlier sneaked into a secluded house.
"Things are going even smoother than we anticipated," a voice piped up from the living room. It was the Frenchman who had instigated the discussion earlier, and surprisingly, his English was quite fluent.
What was even more surprising was that the very same witches and wizards who had first proposed raiding Hogsmeade were now gathered in this house, and it seemed they were all acquainted with each other.
This hinted at a conspiracy.
"After all, we've all taken Felix Felicis."
"But I never imagined we'd find ourselves breaking into Azkaban one day," Sirius Black, his appearance now restored, couldn't help but marvel at the turn of events.
"I'm more concerned about the mysterious figure," Lupin frowned. "Even though we're not the only ones..."
"According to Albert's latest information, Yaxley hasn't informed the mysterious figure about what happened in Hogsmeade," Kingsley explained, "He obviously doesn't want the mysterious figure to know, at least not until the situation is under control. Otherwise, he would appear incompetent in the eyes of his master." This was one of the reasons Kingsley agreed to the operation. As long as Voldemort didn't get involved, the remaining Death Eaters were no match for them. Moreover, the Death Eaters would have their hands full dealing with the fallout, leaving them little time to worry about what was happening in Azkaban.
"What about Hogsmeade, then?" Arthur asked, "If we don't participate in the operation, will those foreigners suspect a trap and call it off?"
"We can control a few Dark Wizards with the Imperius Curse to carry out the plan. We have the Polyjuice Potion," Moody said matter-of-factly.
Ever since they rescued Hagrid, the group had realized the immense usefulness of the Imperius Curse when dealing with the mysterious figure's followers.
"Those foreign Dark Wizards aren't any better than the Death Eaters. Let them fight among themselves!" Sirius had no qualms about the situation, and he thought Albert's suggestion was brilliant. Moreover, if they could capture Azkaban, releasing the innocent prisoners would be a heroic feat unprecedented in the history of British wizardry and a significant blow to the mysterious figure.
(End of Chapter)
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