Chapter 972 Yes, it’s him
Albert didn’t know that someone had already put the blame on him.
Selwyn, who looked extremely ugly, finally reluctantly agreed with Peter Pettigrew's statement. Otherwise, what else could he do? Could it be possible to directly tell the Dark Lord that they were frightened by the sudden appearance of the Dark Mark and fled?
If they dared to say such words, the two of them would probably be directly removed from the list of Death Eaters by Voldemort.
In order not to let himself be known as incompetent in front of the Dark Lord, Selwyn brought out Cassandra Vabras to prove that it was not that they did not work hard, but that the enemy was too cunning. .
Voldemort saw through Selwyn and Peter Pettigrew's little trick at a glance, but his guess was also confirmed. The rumor Snape told was very likely to be true, and Albert Anderson was probably a prophet. .
As for why that mudblood appeared in Nikolai Village?
According to Snape's report, the mudblood maintains good relationships with many famous wizards. Moreover, he is also proficient in alchemy and may have a good relationship with Nico Flamel.
After all, Dumbledore had known the old immortal when he was young, and Dumbledore had a good relationship with the mudblood.
The Dark Mark is even simpler. The spell has never been a difficult magic. It is regarded as dark magic simply because it is Voldemort's mark.
Of course, Voldemort was still dissatisfied with Selwyn and Peter Pettigrew's actions. He was frightened by the Dark Mark and fled, which was simply a shame among the Death Eaters.
After giving each of them a Cruciatus Curse, Voldemort told them to get out.
The mudblood with a "little reputation" was obviously not a simple thing. Voldemort finally recalled what Barty Crouch and Snape had said about the mudblood.
The former also looked down upon the mudblood before touching him. However, after only one year at Hogwarts, Barty Jr. found the Mudblood to be a formidable opponent. At least, from Snape's description, his loyal servant was very afraid of the opponent's strength, otherwise he would not have led a group of people to besiege him. Voldemort believed that there were probably few Death Eaters who could enjoy such a thing. treatment.
What makes Voldemort even more incredible is that Barty Crouch was actually captured by the other party.
It is not easy to capture a Death Eater unless the strength gap between the two parties is huge.
Thinking of this, Voldemort's face became more and more gloomy.
Dumbledore himself is difficult enough, and this Mudblood is obviously also difficult to deal with. From the fact that he sent his family away in advance, it can be inferred that the probability that he is a prophet is very high.
It would be okay if the Mudblood left England, and if he continued to stay and oppose him, Voldemort knew that he had to find an opportunity to get rid of him, so as not to have a guy like Dumbledore pop up in the future to cause trouble for him.
However, he now wants to find out more about Potter's prophecy, and has no plans to act rashly for the time being. This matter is not urgent anyway, and he has plenty of time.
In Voldemort's heart, Dumbledore will always be his number one enemy. As long as he gets rid of Dumbledore, there will be no obstacles in his way forward.
As for the second greatest enemy, it is naturally Harry Potter.
This prophesied savior made Voldemort a little afraid, especially when Harry Potter slipped away from his eyes a while ago, which made Voldemort lose face in front of the Death Eaters. He had to kill him with his own hands. Kill Harry Potter and let the Death Eaters surrender instead of believing in those **** prophecies.
Voldemort knew very well who those Death Eaters were, and if he wanted to frighten that group of losers, he had to provide sufficient deterrence.
As for the mudblood named Albert Anderson, he is obviously not qualified to be ranked third.
but…
Perhaps, what Voldemort didn't know was that this mudblood was not far from the third place on the blacklist in his heart.
If Voldemort knew what Albert had done to him.
…
Albert, as a person involved, actually didn't care too much about the bad things that happened between Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but the British wizarding world had completely exploded.
At the very least, Cornelius Fudge's scalp was numb when he got the news.
Fudge can certainly control the British Daily Prophet, but the reporting on the wizarding world in France is beyond Fudge's control.
The occurrence of the Dark Mark in Nicola Village has spread throughout the French magical community, and an investigation was subsequently launched. The French Ministry of Magic also notified the British magical community of this matter through the diplomatic department.
Fudge can only do it blindly. He hates those guys who like to cause trouble, especially Sirius Black.
That’s right, it’s Sirius Black.
Fudge hates Black and Lupin so much, because "Guide to Defense" was only released not long ago, and something like this happened. What would everyone think? Could it be possible to connect the two things?
Think of these things as some bad omens. Although those voices were forcibly suppressed by Fudge, it does not mean that these voices no longer exist.
There is another thing that makes Fudge even more troubled, the attack on the master of prophecy Cassandra Wabras. The old man is still lying in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies for treatment, and it is said that he is very sick. The strong forgetting spell caused serious memory problems.
Although this incident was later defined as the work of some dark wizards in Knockturn Alley, Stringer reminded him afterwards that this incident may not be simple, and the implications were actually obvious.
…
Unlike the Ministry of Magic, which was trying to catch someone blind, members of the Order of the Phoenix also brought this matter to the party to discuss.
The appearance of the Dark Mark in a French village is a bit strange, because according to the investigation, the unlucky wizard who was killed was just an ordinary wizard in the village of Nicolas, and had no connection with Voldemort or the Death Eaters.
They couldn't even think of a reason why the Death Eaters wanted to kill him, and what they couldn't understand was that the other party actually released the Dark Mark before leaving.
Especially during the period when Voldemort was still lurking, the appearance of the Dark Mark would undoubtedly attract everyone's attention, as if someone had done it deliberately.
"According to the latest news I got, this matter is probably aimed at Mr. Anderson. Do you have any news over there?" Dumbledore cast an inquiring look at Snape.
"I heard that the Dark Lord sent Selwyn and Peter Pettigrew to hunt down Albert Anderson a while ago. It is said that they brought a large group of dark wizards to his house..." Snape ignored Mrs. Weasley. reaction, and continued, "As a result, I think you can guess it. They missed the opportunity. Anderson sent his family away in advance, and they didn't know where they went. Then, they went to find Cassandra Va. Blas…”
“What are they doing with Cassandra Vabras?” interrupted Sirius. "So, what happened to Cassandra Vabras was indeed your doing."
"It's them." Snape glanced at Sirius: "And don't interrupt me."
"They found Cassandra Vabras and wanted to learn from her the whereabouts of Albert Anderson. Cassandra Vabras told them that Anderson would be in Nikolai Village. Finally, they went to the village of Nikolai, where they laid an ambush for several days. As you saw, someone secretly used the Dark Mark, which shocked Selwyn and Peter Pettigrew. They were able to temporarily give up their plan to ambush Anderson and leave the village in a hurry. Before leaving, they killed the owner of that house, probably to cover their tracks or confuse right and wrong." Snape said expressionlessly that he knew Although many of these things are based on his judgment based on the intelligence he collected, the error should not be large.
“Selwyn and Peter Pettigrew agree that the Dark Mark was unleashed by Albert Anderson,” Snape added.
"Are you sure this is not a joke?" Sirius couldn't help but mocked: "A group of Death Eaters were actually scared away by his own Dark Mark?"
"I remember that only Death Eaters know how to use the Dark Mark." Lupine frowned and said, "How could they think that the Dark Mark was made by Mr. Anderson?"
"Who knows? After all, people like Anderson cannot be measured by common sense." Snape glanced at Dumbledore, and the meaning was already obvious. It was best to ask Dumbledore this kind of question.
"Whether it's using the Dark Mark or imitating the Dark Mark, I think it won't be difficult for Mr. Anderson." Dumbledore agreed with Snape's words: "As far as I know, Mr. Anderson happened to be visiting France. I met an old friend, and I also went to see Cassandra Varbras, and it was confirmed that she had indeed made prophecies to Peter Pettigrew and Selwyn."
"How is the master of prophecy doing now?" Kingsley frowned and asked, "Is it possible for the Dark Lord to tie her to their side, if..."
"It's not very good. Cassandra is already very old. The Forgetting Curse has caused something wrong with her. It will take some time for her to fully recover." When Dumbledore said this, he forgot that he was older than the other party. To be taller, "Of course, it should be a good thing for her that she can't predict for others again."
From Dumbledore's point of view, Cassandra undoubtedly sent herself to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries by herself, successfully escaping possible dangers.
After all, it was obviously impossible for Voldemort to let the Death Eaters rush directly into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries. That would be too bad. It was impossible to do that while he was still trying to hide himself. What's more, a person with a bit of dementia, There is no point in arresting an old man who cannot help with divination, he is just trying to cause trouble.
"Why didn't he hide? I mean why didn't Anderson hide?" Arthur asked puzzledly. "Logically speaking, he must have realized that he was being targeted by the mysterious man. I don't think he would be interested in it." I didn’t know this.”
"In fact, we don't need to worry about him. You see, Anderson just used some small tricks to scare the **** out of those Death Eaters. I doubt that he could also scare those unlucky Death Eaters if he wanted to. Send him to hell." Sirius was very confident in Albert, "Besides, I always feel that he is going to do something big."
“Big deal?” Lu Ping asked doubtfully.
"Intuition, that guy never makes trouble." Sirius recalled, "Look what he did, captured Peter Pettigrew, sent the guy to prison, and also knocked the Ministry of Magic off, little Barty Crouch was also taken care of in one go, and the Ministry of Magic is planning to give him some kind of reward."
“I don’t know, maybe not.” Arthur shook his head.
"I suddenly understood why Fudge was unlucky." Sirius now understood a little bit why Albert gave him that report. The emotion was to retaliate against Fudge for not giving him a reward for catching Barty Crouch Jr., at least little Sirius thought it must have something to do with it.
"Is this really the reason?" Tonks asked doubtfully. She didn't know Albert and had only heard of his deeds.
"Yes, that's about it." Sirius explained, "I've made several deals with him, and I know him fairly well. I think in his eyes, he helped the Ministry of Magic catch the prisoner, and Fudge gave him a bounty. , both parties owe nothing to each other, that’s probably it. That guy is not a greedy person, but in many cases, a deal is a deal, and there is a price to pay for not giving things something to take advantage of, and he happens to have this ability. "
"Why is he willing to provide us with conveniences?" Tonks was even more confused, and her eyes couldn't help but turn to Dumbledore.
"He also hopes that the wizarding world can be peaceful, and Voldemort's rule of the wizarding world will not benefit him at all, so it is not surprising that he prefers us." Dumbledore explained, and he certainly would not say that he had provided some goodwill to Albert.
“Mr. Anderson seems to be very keen on participating in international competitions.” Kingsley suddenly interjected, “Spain will hold an International Wizarding Duel Competition in the near future. Will he plan to participate in that competition?”
"Don't let Voldemort know about this yet." Dumbledore reminded Snape.
"I think this kind of thing cannot be hidden. With his ability, if he really wants to participate in that competition, it will definitely appear in the newspapers. Now you can only hope that the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters will not read " Daily Prophet." Snape felt that if Albert went to participate in a world-class competition, there would be little chance of completely hiding it.
“You can ask the Daily Prophet to delay reporting this matter.” Sirius said without thinking.
"Can't we let that child give up participating in some duel competition?" Mrs. Weasley also frowned.
"How about we also go to the International Wizarding Duel Competition!" Sirius suddenly said: "If Voldemort's people show up there to harm Anderson, we can also help him if we can catch a few Death Eaters. , or if Voldemort is forced to appear, I think Fudge will definitely not continue to insist that "Voldemort's return" is false."
Of course, his target is Peter Pettigrew, maybe that timid mouse will also pass by, and then his chance will come.
"It's not a good idea to take time off to watch a duel competition." Kingsley reminded: "This may very well reveal our identity as members of the Order of the Phoenix. If we go, I'm afraid we can only use the portkey, but you also know , the Ministry of Magic is keeping a close eye on portkeys right now."
"Yes, it would be more beneficial to us if the Death Eaters could be exposed." Tonks agreed with Sirius.
After all, Voldemort hiding in the dark is always a big trouble.
(End of this chapter)