Chapter 1401: The End of Mr. Thief
Chapter 1401: The End of Mr. Thief
It was unclear if Voldemort truly didn't care, but ever since that Christmas night, his infamous name had spread throughout the entire German wizarding community.
Several Aurors had died in the line of duty, and even the German Ministry of Magic couldn't suppress this shocking news. Wizards were reintroduced to the notorious Dark Wizard through newspaper articles, and a sense of panic surrounding Voldemort began to spread rapidly across Europe's magical communities.
Voldemort remained unperturbed by Albert's tricks. In his opinion, even if the various European countries strongly opposed him, they wouldn't dare interfere with the British Ministry of Magic or come to the UK to cause him trouble, as the risks were too great.
This was a tacit understanding among everyone.
It was also one of the reasons why Voldemort had hardly expanded his influence beyond the UK.
The Gregorovitch they had found was a fake, probably a Dark Wizard under someone's control, transformed by a complex potion. He had been used as bait to annoy and infuriate Voldemort, goading him into killing the Aurors who rushed to the scene and bringing him into direct conflict with the German Ministry of Magic.
Indeed, Albert's scheme had disgusted Voldemort! After that incident, countries across Europe sent large numbers of Aurors to keep an eye on him, and he couldn't shake them off.
So, Voldemort temporarily set aside his plans to continue searching for Gregorovitch in Europe and instead chose to return to the UK, much to the relief of the Aurors assigned to tail him by their respective Ministries of Magic.
Although they were Aurors, they were still hired employees doing their job for money. None of them wanted to face off against such a formidable Dark Wizard, as losing their lives would not be worth it.
Upon his angry return to the UK, Voldemort was further enraged by Yaxley and Snape's failure, which made him want to kill someone. After repeatedly taking out his anger on them, he ultimately punished his subordinates with the Cruciatus Curse but didn't completely give up on them.
After all, Voldemort had very few competent Death Eaters left, and there was also the fact that their opponent was that Mudblood.
Voldemort knew how troublesome he was. If he gave up on Yaxley and Snape just because they had failed against him, who would dare to face that Mudblood next? Even Voldemort had to admit that Albert Anderson had grown into a threat comparable to Dumbledore in a short period.
No, he might even be a step above.
They were equally powerful, equally talented, and equally ruthless.
He was... a formidable foe.
After their previous encounters, even Voldemort had lost confidence that he could kill his opponent! Because that Mudblood was still growing rapidly, and it wouldn't be long before he might no longer be a match for him.
This was the real reason why Voldemort was desperately searching for the legendary Deathstick.
He felt threatened! And this feeling was becoming more urgent!
Even though he possessed a Horcrux and couldn't be killed, Voldemort couldn't bear the thought of becoming a disembodied spirit again and living in hiding.
Voldemort would never allow that to happen, never.
He would achieve immortality.
After listening to Snape and Yaxley's report, Voldemort, who had been briefly silent, finally agreed to their plan.
Especially after being disgusted by Albert, Voldemort naturally wouldn't let the matter rest. He wanted to take revenge on that damn Mudblood.
Even if he couldn't kill the Mudblood, Voldemort didn't mind eliminating the people around him first to weaken his opponent.
Just like how his enemy had dealt with him.
Of course, it wasn't easy to kill members of the Order of the Phoenix or Dumbledore's Army. Those people were like rats, hiding in their holes.
However, there was always an exception.
Mundungus Fletcher, who had been impersonating an Inferius to commit burglaries without leaving any traces, finally met his comeuppance.
He was blocked by a group of suddenly appearing Death Eaters.
The Death Eaters didn't give Mundungus any chance to resist and immediately knocked him out.
"Take him alive," they said.
This was the last thing Mundungus heard before he passed out.
When Mundungus woke up, he found himself locked in a dark cell, with a man standing in front of him. The man had scarlet eyes and a sinister face—none other than the infamous Dark Lord himself.
"It's over," Mundungus thought, his mind going blank. He opened his mouth slightly, intending to surrender to Voldemort in exchange for a chance to live.
However, instead of using Dark Magic to interrogate Mundungus, Voldemort raised his wand after waking him up and directly invaded his mind, forcibly sifting through the secrets hidden within.
Even the most powerful Obliviation Charm could be broken, and Voldemort didn't believe that Mundungus could keep any secrets from him.
But after forcing his way into Mundungus' mind, Voldemort didn't find many useful memories.
This guy couldn't even enter the headquarters of Dumbledore's Army.
He had been kicked out by its members.
The only useful information was probably that Mundungus maintained good contact with the Weasley twins and provided them with prohibited items every week.
However, it wouldn't be easy to capture the Weasley twins based on this information, as the two parties never met in person. Mundungus would leave the items in a hidden safe house every week and receive payment for the previous week's goods when he delivered the new batch.
If they set an ambush at that safe house, they might have a chance, but the probability wouldn't be high, and they might also alert their targets.
In the end, Voldemort didn't want to take the risk of spooking his prey. He didn't even kill Mundungus outright. Instead, he used the Imperius Curse to control this almost-imbecile idiot temporarily.
This guy still had some use, and if his luck was good, he might be able to find the Mudblood's whereabouts.
Voldemort wouldn't allow Mundungus to die easily until he had thoroughly squeezed out his value.
Of course, Voldemort didn't share his plans with anyone else because he couldn't guarantee that there wasn't a third spy within the Death Eaters, aside from Ludo Bagman.
So, Voldemort only let Snape and Yaxley believe that he intended to use Mundungus to deal a heavy blow to Dumbledore's Army.
As for Snape and Yaxley's suggestion to "create more Inferi, attempt to lure out the enemy, and find an opportunity to annihilate them," Voldemort agreed and expressed that he would personally deal with those damn people.
However, Voldemort still didn't realize that a traitor was lurking among his inner circle.
After Snape returned to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, he immediately discussed the matter with Dumbledore's portrait.
"It seems that the storm stirred up by my little butterfly has indeed changed quite a few things."
Albert also received this news from Dumbledore that evening. He was very surprised by Voldemort's change but didn't regret giving Voldemort that carefully prepared Christmas present. After all, the gains far outweighed the consequences of being targeted by Voldemort. They were already irreconcilable enemies, and it was a wise choice to take advantage of Voldemort's existence to gain as much benefit as possible while he was still alive. Such opportunities wouldn't come again.
After all, Dark Lords like Voldemort didn't come around often.
(End of Chapter)
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