It was still the same magnificent hall. Both sides of the long table were filled with wizards wearing black hoods, but they all lowered their heads in silence, fearing that if they looked up they would see those cold and frightening red eyes.
“Why don’t you speak?” Voldemort came to a person and asked condescendingly: “Antonin, what did you promise me? Is this your answer to me?
"You lost a leg and fled back here like a stinkbug, and you still want to ask for my forgiveness?"
"Master, I swear I have tried my best, Master!" Antonin Dolohov fell to the ground with a plop and tried to kiss Voldemort's robe that was dragging on the ground, but Voldemort dodged him in disgust.
This action made Antonin Dolohov even more terrified. As an old Death Eater who had followed Voldemort more than ten years ago, he knew very well what it meant when the Dark Lord no longer accepted compliments from his servants.
This means that in his eyes, this servant has completely lost his use value... just like no one would take a second look at a broken pair of shoes.
"It's Malfoy, it's Draco Malfoy." Antonin Dolohov said sharply, "If he could have killed Dumbledore earlier, we would have completed our mission long ago!"
At the end of the long table, Draco Malfoy felt a gaze looking at him, which instantly made him feel cold all over and his face turned extremely pale, without a trace of blood.
"Nonsense, you despicable coward!" Lucius Malfoy suddenly raised his head and glared at Antonin Dolohov with bloodshot eyes. He used to have a good relationship with him... or at least a colleague.
"Draco did what none of you could do!"
At this moment, Lucius was no longer afraid and shouted, "Draco found a secret passage to Hogwarts for the master. His contribution is obvious to all. Can any of you do it? No one!"
Everyone else present raised their heads and looked at Lucius Malfoy.
To be honest, his indiscriminate attack could be said to have cursed everyone present, and he was scolding them for being useless right in front of Voldemort.
At this moment, the Death Eaters wanted to kill him more than ever, but they dared not do anything, not even to protest.
Because Lucius was telling the truth.
Before this, they really couldn't find a way to enter Hogwarts smoothly. No, it should be said that it was difficult for them to even go to Hogsmeade, because the area around the school was almost entirely filled with spies from the Order of the Phoenix.
So in a sense, Draco Malfoy's contribution to finding the Vanishing Cabinet really exceeded everyone's imagination.
After hearing what Lucius said, Voldemort withdrew his gaze and looked at Antonin Dolohov on the ground again, as if waiting for his explanation.
At the same time, a rustling sound came from the shadows where the light could not reach, as if something was sliding across the ground, and the sound became clearer and clearer.
Dolokhov was really scared, and beads of sweat on his forehead fell to the ground.
He really wanted to say that he had not taken action because he had to obey Voldemort's order that Draco Malfoy must kill Dumbledore personally.
But Dolokhov did not dare to do so; he was sure that if he did so he would die instantly.
So now he could only hope that someone could say a few words to help him, but unfortunately, there was no tradition of helping colleagues among the Death Eaters.
Voldemort slowly raised his wand.
"Please, Master, please forgive me..."
"Crucio!"
The intense pain made Dolokhov curl up his whole body and struggle silently, but he was very happy in his heart.
Yes, Dolohov was happy because Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse instead of the Killing Curse... The proud Dark Lord never disdained to punish his servants a second time, which also meant that he would not die.
The sound of gliding in the darkness gradually faded away,
Five minutes later, Voldemort lowered his wand and Dolohov lay limp on the ground, trembling with his mouth open.
"Thank you...thank you for your tolerance...Master..."
Voldemort did not say anything. If there were not fewer and fewer people around him who could be used, he would not have let Antonin Dolohov go so easily.
When the other Death Eaters saw this, they all lowered their heads with different expressions, some were relieved, some were disappointed.
Lucius looked on in horror as Voldemort pointed his wand at Draco at the end of the table.
"Crucio!"
It was the Cruciatus Curse again, and Draco Malfoy, like Dolohov, curled up on the ground and struggled in pain.
"This is to teach you a lesson," Voldemort said calmly. "My order was for you to kill Dumbledore. Why didn't you do it?"
Draco Malfoy wanted to argue, but the pain caused by the Cruciatus Curse made it impossible for him to make a sound.
"Master..." Lucius lay on the ground, trying to beg for mercy, "Draco is only sixteen years old, he..."
"I am not speaking to you, Lucius." Voldemort raised a finger, signaling him to be quiet.
"That Kyle, he ruined my plans time and again when he was sixteen. If he can do it, why can't Draco?
"Or do you think that the Dark Lord's servants are no match for Dumbledore's students?"
Lucius Malfoy immediately shut his mouth, and the other Death Eaters around him also lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe.
However, at this moment, a sudden voice was heard in the room.
"Why don't you go to Hogwarts yourself then?"
Subconsciously, everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from, wanting to see which warrior didn't want to live anymore.
"What did you say just now?" Voldemort came to Oren's side and looked at him with interest.
"I say, as the Dark Lord, why didn't you go to Hogwarts?"
Oren seemed not to notice the wand pressed against his forehead and continued speaking:
“If we choose Hogwarts as the battlefield, threaten the lives of all the students, or just grab a few people and tie them up, even Dumbledore wouldn’t dare to resist.
"By then, you can kill him without any effort."
There was a sound of gasps all around, and all the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr., looked at the newcomer with very strange eyes.
My goodness, tying students up to fight with Dumbledore. Even if they thought they were evil, they would not do such a shameless act, but the other party could say it so calmly.
For a moment, they even felt a little inferior to themselves.
Even Voldemort stared at Oren in a daze, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
"You mean to say that I, the heir of Salazar Slytherin, the greatest Dark Lord ever, need to resort to this method to defeat Dumbledore?"
Voldemort's voice was cold, and his snake-like eyes were emotionless, as if he would kill Oren without hesitation if he said something wrong.
"You worry too much. That's not what I meant." Oren's face remained calm. "But this is indeed a rare opportunity. I just think it's a pity."
"You don't need to teach me how to do this. Also, don't try to be clever in front of me."
What the Death Eaters didn't expect was that Voldemort actually put away his wand.
"I have other more important things to do. As for Dumbledore... I can kill him any time."
"You have the final say." Oren spread his hands, looking helpless.
However, even for this rude and almost suicidal behavior, Oren still did not receive any punishment.
If there was anyone whose performance in this operation against Hogwarts made Voldemort slightly satisfied, it was probably Oren.
Not only did he escape unscathed and bring back the useless Antonin Dolohov, but he also cooperated with Snape to rescue Malfoy who was being held in the school hospital.
He was thoughtful, responsive, and more importantly, crazy enough to do anything to achieve his goals. All these qualities combined made Oren's position in Voldemort's heart surpass that of 90% of the Death Eaters here.
Voldemort didn't mind showing his magnanimity when facing a servant who brought him a little surprise.
She was like this once, standing out among the Death Eaters and deeply trusted by the Dark Lord.
But I don’t know when it started, it seems to be after I came out of Azkaban, because of the failure of several key missions, this trust gradually disappeared.
It was as if a wild beast suddenly appeared in Bellatrix's heart, roaring constantly and tempting her to kill Oren.
But her remaining sanity told her that she couldn't do this, at least not in front of the Dark Lord.
Bellatrix closed her eyes, trying hard to suppress a thought in her mind, and when she opened her eyes again, Voldemort was gone.
The mountain that loomed over the house also disappeared, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Bellatrix glanced at Oren not far away, rubbed her fingers on her wand twice, and quickly left the room.
Lucius quickly got up from the ground, ran to Draco, helped him up, and hugged him tightly.
People around cast all kinds of strange looks at him, some were false sympathy, some were real gloating.
But Lucius no longer cared about these.
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"How are you, Draco?" he asked anxiously.
But whether it was because of the Cruciatus Curse or because he was scared, Draco didn't say anything until most of the other people in the room had left. Then he stood up from the ground tremblingly.
"It's okay, Dad." Draco tried to make his voice sound calmer.
He had always thought that being a Death Eater was a very prestigious thing, but now he knew that was not the case at all.
The feeling of having a close brush with death made him feel extremely regretful. He didn't want to be a Death Eater anymore. He wanted to go back to Hogwarts, even if it would be to be assigned to the same dormitory with Potter Weasley.
As if he saw what he was thinking, Lucius patted his shoulder helplessly without saying anything.
After Draco Malfoy calmed down a bit, he stood up and walked over to Oren.
"Thank you," said Lucius.
He knew very well that if Oren had not spoken suddenly just now and attracted the Dark Lord's attention, he would not have let Draco go so quickly.
"Why are you thanking me?" Oren glanced at him indifferently, not appreciating it.
"Of course you helped get Draco back."
Lucius naturally didn't dare to talk about topics related to Voldemort, but fortunately Draco was indeed brought back by Oren, so what he said was not wrong.
"No need." Oren lowered his eyes without even looking at him. "I just went to the designated place and picked him up. You should thank the person who actually saved him."
"All the same, all the same," said Lucius.
At this time, Oren seemed to have thought of something, looked up and asked:
"But there is one thing I'm curious about. How much does your son hate his classmates that he actually allowed a werewolf to go to Hogwarts."
"I didn't!" Draco Malfoy came back to his senses and said subconsciously: "I didn't know he would come. I only told Alecto and Dolohov."
"Really?" Oren said nonchalantly.
"Draco certainly didn't say that, and this can be proved." Lucius said quickly, "When we were discussing the attack on Hogwarts, Greyback was not here at all. He insisted on going after he heard about it later... He obviously didn't want to miss the good opportunity to go to Hogwarts.
"I heard that you were also a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. What a pity! It would have been better if Draco could have enrolled a year earlier."
Lucius made full use of his social advantages and tried to find a common topic.
"Are you sure?" Oren looked at him and raised his eyebrows teasingly.
For some reason, Lucius felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by him, and at the same time he thought of some legends about Oren.
The only professor at Hogwarts in the last century who wanted to kill a student and took action.
It can be said that it was only he who chose Kyle. If it were anyone else, no matter who it was, he would have died in the Forbidden Forest.
If it was Draco...
Lucius shuddered for no apparent reason and didn't dare to think about it any further.
He felt that this Oren was definitely not normal in the head. He had no idea what he was thinking, or any normal person could guess it.
Seeing that Lucius stopped talking, Oren curled the corners of his mouth in disdain, leaned back, leaned lazily in the chair and yawned.
"Strange, why didn't I see Greyback just now? Is he still in Hogwarts?"
"I don't know either……"
"He's not coming back," said Draco Malfoy. "I heard some news on the way to the hospital wing."
"What news?"
"Fenrir Greyback has been captured, as have the other Death Eaters who were causing trouble in the castle."
"So, he is also imprisoned in the Ministry of Magic now?" Oren narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do we need to rescue him? Attacking the Ministry of Magic sounds great. If you want to go, remember to count me in."
Lucius looked at him in surprise, as if he had not expected that among the cold-blooded Death Eaters there would be a kind-hearted guy who would take the initiative to go to the Ministry of Magic to save people.
This is inconsistent with the personality he has shown before.
But it probably isn't necessary.
Since the Dark Lord didn't mention this just now, it proved that he had given up on the werewolf Greyback.
The Death Eaters had just attacked Hogwarts. Now was the most tense time for the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix, and they themselves had suffered heavy losses. It was really not worthwhile to break into the Ministry of Magic just for a werewolf at this time.
Even if Greyback is the werewolf leader.
"I don't think so."
Before Lucius could say anything, Draco continued, "Professor Snape told me that Hogwarts does not intend to hand Greyback over to the Ministry of Magic, but to the families of the children he bit."
Speaking of Snape, Malfoy became much more lonely again. He couldn't help but think that it would have been better if he had accepted Snape's help when he was in school.
"I guess he's been taken away by now, and no one knows where he is."
Malfoy whispered in regret, but he didn't notice that Oren's expression changed slightly at this moment.
"You mean we won't see Greyback again?" he asked quietly.
"I think so." Lucius said, "He has bitten so many people, and he is still alive because he has not been caught..."
Before he could finish his words, Oren suddenly stood up and left the room without even saying hello or looking back.
Now, only Malfoy and his son were left in the room. They looked at each other, neither of them knowing what had happened.
"What's wrong with him? Did I say something wrong?" Draco Malfoy asked nervously.
Lucius thought about it carefully for a while, shook his head and said, "No, at least that's what I think."
He was now more and more certain that this Oren was a little abnormal.
…
(End of this chapter)