"You're finally back, Severus..." Narcissa Malfoy sat on a sofa, crying, and Lucius was beside her, his face pale.

When they saw Snape, they immediately stood up and walked over.

Ever since the news of Dumbledore's murder spread throughout the wizarding world, the Death Eaters who were responsible for surveillance disappeared. They once again won the trust of the Dark Lord and were free to go anywhere.

Voldemort even came in person and praised Draco's bravery and wisdom.

But Lucius and Narcissa just felt cold all over, they both knew that being praised by the Dark Lord was not actually a good thing.

But they can't take care of that now, they have more important things to do.

"How's it going, Severus." Lucius looked nervous, "Any news about Draco?"

"You suddenly came back at this time, you must have succeeded...right?" Narcissa also looked at Snape hopefully.

"Something went wrong..." Snape hesitated, but seeing the increasingly dim eyes of the two, he still sighed.

"Okay, listen to me, Draco is right there with me."

Narcissa clutched her chest and moaned with joy, and because of the sudden relaxation, her whole body swayed and fell to the ground.

Lucius on the side did not help his wife because he was in a similar situation. The only thing that was better than Narcissa was that he could still stand.

"Thank Merlin." Lucius Malfoy smiled for the only time in months.

"Thank you...Severus, thank you."

"No need to thank me." Snape shook his head. "Like I said, something went wrong."

"What do you mean?" Lucius became nervous again, "What happened to Draco?"

"He's fine. It has nothing to do with this." Snape thought for a moment, as if considering what to say next.

"In fact, I did have the idea of ​​saving Draco, but it was just an idea..."

"You should know that if Dumbledore was killed openly in school, neither Hogwarts nor the Ministry of Magic would let him go. Saving him would be almost impossible."

"But you did it, Severus." Narcissa's tone was full of gratitude, "The best decision we have ever made is to make you Draco's godfather."

"That wasn't done by me." Snape shook his head, "Or rather, I didn't have time to do anything. Draco showed up in my office by himself."

"What?" Lucius was stunned for a moment, "You mean, Draco escaped by himself?"

"Lucius, has the Dark Lord's Cruciatus Curse made you insane?"

Snape walked to the table and sat down, "After Draco's wand was confiscated, he not only easily defeated Flitwick who was in charge of guarding him, but also perfectly avoided the portraits that were everywhere in the castle and came to my office.

"Do you think this is possible?"

"Absolutely impossible." Lucius said without hesitation.

Not to mention Draco, he couldn't do it.

There are only a few wizards in the entire wizarding world who can defeat Professor Flitwick without making any noise.

The duel champion is not a title that can be bought with Galleons. Even if he is facing the Dark Lord, the goblin professor can fight him for a few moves.

Could it be that the Dark Lord has taken action...

Impossible! As soon as this thought came out, it was killed by Lucius. Would the Dark Lord help Draco? This was even more unbelievable than him escaping by himself. It was simply impossible.

"Then who helped Draco."

"If I knew, I wouldn't have talked so much nonsense to you." Snape glanced at Lucius.

"This..." Lucius was a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry about him, Severus." Narcissa had regained some strength and stood up from the ground. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"When I was attending the funeral, I suddenly realized that the magic set up in the private storage room had been triggered by someone, so I hurried over."

Snape recalled what happened a few days ago and said, "When I opened the door of the storage room, I saw Draco lying on the table, but there was no one around except him.

"Even the magic I set up was intact. It was as if someone had touched it on purpose to get my attention."

Snape's face was gloomy. Such uncontrollable things happened one after another, making him feel very uncomfortable.

"Did Draco know anything?" Narcissa asked. "Maybe he saw it."

"He knew nothing." Snape shook his head. "When he woke up, he didn't even realize that he had changed his position."

"Could it be that there are others in Hogwarts..." Narcissa hesitated for a moment, but did not say the rest.

She wanted to say that there might be a second Death Eater undercover in Hogwarts, but thinking carefully, if it was really that easy to get into that school, the Dark Lord would not take Snape so seriously.

And given their personalities, they would not take the risk of helping another Death Eater.

But apart from this explanation, she couldn't think of anyone else who would help Draco.

Ever since Draco killed Dumbledore, almost all wizards wanted to kill him, and only people like them would help.

"I have been investigating this matter for the past few days, but I have not gotten any clues."

Snape ignored Narcissa's changing expression and continued, "I came here just to tell you that Draco is still alive, don't worry too much.

"Just focus on your work from now on. Your current situation is not much better than Draco's."

"I know..." Narcissa whispered, "Severus, you can take Draco..."

"Impossible." Snape interrupted her directly.

"We want to see him."

"Then I advise you not to think so."

Snape said bluntly: "The Aurors and the professors at Hogwarts have never given up on finding Malfoy. I am taking a big risk by coming out this time. I have been checked at least three times."

"And given the current situation, Draco is safest with me."

"Well... okay then."

"Thank you, Severus."

Narcissa and Lucius looked at each other.

It's not that they didn't doubt the truthfulness of Snape's words. Before seeing Draco in person, everything he said could be false.

But they had no other choice. Whether out of trust or self-comfort, they could only choose to believe Snape.

"What should we do now?" Lucius asked.

"Of course you should continue to work for the Dark Lord." Snape glanced at him coldly, "Do I need to teach you this? "Lucius, the Dark Lord has been tolerant enough towards you. If Draco had not helped you get an opportunity this time, you would have suffered more than just the Cruciatus Curse."

"Of course, of course we know." The little bit of color that had just returned to Lucius' face disappeared in an instant.

He looked a little struggling, as if he had a lot to say, but all of it turned into a sigh.

"I understand. I will cooperate with Rodolphus. Once we capture Hogwarts, we should be able to see Draco."

"Of course." Snape raised his head and glanced at him quickly. "As long as those damn Aurors are withdrawn from Hogwarts, I can also find a way to get Draco out."

Lucius' eyes suddenly lit up.

"Why, do you have an idea?" Snape looked at him with interest.

"Me, of course not," said Lucius, "but if it's the Aurors, I think they'll soon be in no mood to protect any school."

"Oh, what do you mean?"

"The Dark Lord has grown impatient with Bones and is planning to replace him with a more obedient minister."

Narcissa helped explain, "Once we take down the Ministry of Magic, the entire British wizarding world will basically be controlled by the Dark Lord. We will have plenty of time to target Hogwarts."

She looked relieved, even a little excited. "By then, Draco won't have to hide anymore. He will be a hero."

"I hope so," said Snape.

People who are obsessed with potions don't like too bright environments, and Snape is no exception. There is only a dim oil lamp in his house.

Snape sat there, not knowing what he was thinking. The light from the oil lamp illuminated half of his face, while the other half was hidden in darkness.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the Aurors, Snape returned to Hogwarts early the next morning before breakfast, bringing a lot of Cornish elves with him.

After all, the reason he left school was to look for teaching aids, so he naturally couldn't go back empty-handed. These were all bought by him on the way.

The school is still the same, the atmosphere is depressing, the professors are teaching and grading homework as usual, but there are fewer and fewer students.

During breakfast, Snape calmly hid some food and prepared to take it back to Draco Malfoy.

The other party was really in his storage room, and he did not lie to Lucius and Narcissa about this.

But just because Hogwarts is peaceful doesn't mean it's the same outside of school.

Since Dumbledore's death, the Death Eaters have awakened from the dark corners and taken to the streets like foxes in spring.

The war was brought to the surface, just like the carnival after the Quidditch World Cup.

In the following period of time, the Ministry of Magic was attacked twice in succession. Although they were both repelled by Amelia Bones and Scrimgeour and the Aurors, it did not mean that everything was fine.

After the second attack, the Director of the Department of Disasters at the Ministry of Magic publicly announced his support for Voldemort to take control of the Ministry of Magic.

The angry Scrimgeour wanted to kill him as a traitor, but unexpectedly, the Department of Magical Games and Sports and the Department of Law Enforcement also jumped out one after another.

What is even more surprising is that they have a large number of supporters.

Amelia Bones' face was extremely gloomy. She remembered that since Dumbledore's funeral, there had been frequent personnel changes in the Ministry of Magic.

But she didn't care. Dumbledore was dead, and many people moved abroad for fear of the Dark Lord. She couldn't ask everyone to stay here, and she couldn't manage it.

Therefore, her focus has always been on Auror and Striker, and she has not paid too much attention to other positions.

I didn't expect that...

"Minister, you don't want to dismiss us, oh, and Scrimgeour... do you want to kill us?"

Bartok, director of the Disaster Department, stood opposite Amelia and seemed to be the representative, but strangely, his expression looked a little dull.

"You better think carefully. The Death Eaters are not far away."

"Damn you, you threatened me..." Scrimgeour snapped.

"It's not a threat." Bartok said dully, "It's just a different philosophy. After all, we didn't sneak attack you when the Death Eaters attacked. We are still members of the Ministry of Magic."

"What difference does it make?" Scrimgeour's face turned an ugly purple.

"Of course," Bartok said. "The difference is who attacks his colleague first."

"I don't care," said Scrimgeour. "Do you Death Eaters care about your reputation?"

"After all, we are going to take over the Ministry of Magic in the future, and it's not good to have a bad reputation." Bartok forced a stiff smile.

It's not like he hasn't thought about it.

In fact, when Scrimgeour was leading the Aurors to fight the Death Eaters just now, he was already ready to turn against them.

But before he could do anything, he was discovered.

While they were discussing when to take action, Chris, the Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, suddenly appeared and disrupted their plan.

Moreover, the other party ran very fast, leaving him no time to kill and silence him.

Because of this, Bartok... or the Death Eater who controlled Bartok had no choice but to choose a backup plan and jumped out on his own initiative.

"Don't dream!" Amelia Bones stood up and glanced at everyone on the opposite side. "As long as I'm here, you'll never succeed."

After a long period of recruiting, the Ministry of Magic's combat power has now expanded to a considerable scale.

Amelia Bones glanced at the Director of the Law Enforcement Department across from her, secretly thanking herself for having transferred the command of the strikers from the Law Enforcement Department to the Minister's office a long time ago in order to make it easier to fight the Death Eaters.

At that time, the new director should not have been controlled by the Death Eaters. Although he was not very willing, he did not insist much, and the transfer was completed smoothly.

Now think about it, if the command of the strikers was in the hands of the Death Eaters, they would have been wiped out for no apparent reason.

"Bones, I advise you to surrender to the Dark Lord." Bartok continued to persuade: "Then you can continue to be the Minister of Magic without any impact. Isn't that good?"

"You are like a leech that has been stepped on and exploded. You are disgusting." Bones glared at him without any politeness. "Don't you dare to come out of the gutter and say this to me in person!"

"What a pity, Bones." Bartok stopped talking and just stood there, staring at Bones.

The huge Ministry of Magic was instantly divided into two camps.

The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, the Department of Law Enforcement, and the Department of Magical Games and Sports have fallen on the Death Eaters' side (most of whom are probably under the Imperius Curse).

Corresponding to these are the Department for International Magical Cooperation, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department of Magical Transport.

Exactly half and half.

It is worth mentioning that Barty Crouch, the person who was pushed out as a stepping stone by Fudge after the reversal of the Sirius incident, is still alive.

Or rather, he has always been there.

There had been no news about him for a long time since he was transferred to the Department of Magical Transportation. He was not dissatisfied with Fudge's behavior, nor did he have any thoughts of making a comeback. He just went to and from get off work on time every day and kept a low profile so that everyone almost forgot about him.

This time, he stood opposite the Death Eaters again.

On the surface, with the two additional people, the Minister and the Head of the Auror Office, the Ministry of Magic seemed to have the upper hand.

But since the Ministry of Magic began to split, it meant they had already lost.

Scrimgeour was furious and kept stroking his wand. He wanted to get rid of all these people, but was stopped by the minister.

Bones didn't dare to gamble. She didn't know if the Death Eaters would take the opportunity to make a comeback if the two sides really fought.

It is not difficult to kill them, but what if Voldemort becomes enraged and shows up in person?

At least now the Aurors and the strikers are still in her hands. This situation is more favorable to them, and this may also give them some breathing time.

Two consecutive attacks were also a heavy drain on the strikers and Aurors.

Of course, these people must be cleared out, but not now.

If it only depends on means, Bones doesn't think he will lose to a few Death Eaters. Sooner or later, the Ministry of Magic will get back on track.

…

The two sides stared at each other in the hallway, neither willing to give in. Chris stood in the middle with a serious look on his face.

He was very glad that he had taken some small measures to guard against undercover agents in advance, which enabled him to discover Bartok and others at the critical moment.

He also thought of the group of Death Eaters that appeared in St. Catchpole's village two days ago. If it weren't for his quick reaction and the help of some friends, he would probably have been controlled by the Imperius Curse and stood on the opposite side.

No, if he was controlled and there was no one else in the Ministry of Magic who could discover Bartok's conspiracy in time, there might not be a need for this negotiation.

He rubbed his forehead irritably.

In addition to him, Arthur, Molly, Kingsley, Charlie and other members of the Order of the Phoenix have all been attacked. They have now moved back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Because Arthur discovered that the protective magic around the house still existed, Dumbledore seemed to have changed the identity of the Secret Keeper in advance.

After they moved in, they discussed who the new secret-keeper would be.

Charlie thinks it's Kyle.

The reason is that Kyle was very close to Dumbledore, and he was the first person to rush over after the accident. If Dumbledore acted quickly enough, he could have transferred the identity of the Secret Keeper to someone else.

However, Molly and Arthur prefer Minerva McGonagall. They think the headmistress is calm and more reliable.

…

(End of this chapter)