Under the night, there is a dark world.
In the shadows that cannot be touched by the stars and the bright moon, dangerous power is gradually gathering.
The unknown fear is gathering momentum in the hands of the Dark Lord.
Just under a certain mountain cliff a few miles away from Hogwarts Castle, there is a wizarding village much smaller than Hogsmeade.
In this village, only five families live next to each other.
Here, they opened up several pastures and fields and lived a self-sufficient life. Although generations have lived here, there are not many descendants, so the number of residents here has not increased much.
It's just that after being here for a long time, a large cemetery has been circled for the burial of ancestors.
However, tonight, a group of dangerous elements covering their heads and faces appeared in this small village, which has always been peaceful all year round. The leader was actually a handsome young man.
"...Master, we have completely lost contact with the werewolves. No one can be found."
In that cemetery, the most central members sat in a circle, bowed respectfully to the young man in the circle, and reported the recent capture news one by one.
They had just completely wiped out five ordinary wizarding families in the village. Under the influence of the spell, it was simply an invisible and traceless massacre.
At this moment, you can still see from a distance that the lights in several houses opposite the cemetery have been extinguished. The originally warm family now only has a strong smell of death left.
Outside those central members, dozens of ordinary wizard members also wearing cloaks were gathering together sporadically, silently waiting for the order to arrive.
And further away, there are even a few non-wizard members wandering aimlessly, such as those clumsy giant monsters, or... a huge giant snake.
"Don't worry about the werewolves. Those guys are just like vampires, they are not reliable..." the young man said calmly, "Today's action is very important, no more failures are allowed - you all remember, what we have to do is still a test!"
"… err on the side of caution, got it?"
"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.
The young man nodded slightly, and then turned his gaze to the starry sky above his head.
"The next step is to wait for the news..."
"Master, we are eager to know..." At this time, a deep voice suddenly asked, "I beg you to tell us... how you accomplished this... this miracle... and returned to us..."
"Ah, it's a long story, Lucius," the young man said with a smile. "The beginning and the end of this story are related to two boys - one of whom is our current 'ally'!"
He lazily walked to the outside, the eyes of the entire circle fell on him, and the big snake slowly crawled to his side.
"Of course you know, they say Harry Potter is my nemesis, don't you?"
The handsome young man said softly, his eyes burning with black flames seemed to be looking into the hearts of everyone here. The black marks on everyone's bodies were beating like fire, making them almost scream.
"As you all know, I wanted to kill him the night I lost my magic and my body. His mother died trying to save him - inadvertently giving him some kind of protection that I admit I didn't expect... I can’t touch that boy.”
The young man stretched out a slender pale finger and brushed the cold fingertips from his temples, and a strange aura immediately rushed towards him.
The young man smiled, put down his finger, and continued to tell the surrounding members.
"Friends, I confess that I miscalculated. My spell, deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, bounced back upon myself. Ah... the pain was beyond all, friends, and nothing could resist it. I was stripped Without a body, he is worse than a ghost, worse than the humblest wandering soul..."
"But I'm still alive! What I am, I don't know until now... I, the person who has gone farther than anyone else on the road to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. Now I have been tested, it seems that I At least one or two of those experiments worked... for I did not die, although the spell was fatal. However, I was as powerless as the weakest creature, unable to help myself... I had no body, and everyone who could help me Each spell requires the use of a wand..."
"I remember those days and nights when I couldn't sleep, and I just repeatedly forced myself to live every second... I hid in a remote forest, waiting... My loyal Death Eaters will definitely think There must be a way to find me... There will definitely be someone who will use magic that I cannot cast on my own to give me a body... But I waited in vain... "
The circle of members trembled again.
The young man let the terror escalate in silence, and then continued: "I only have one magic power left, and I can possess it on others. But I dare not go to crowded places, because I know that Aurors are still looking for me everywhere. "
"I sometimes possess animals - snakes are of course my favorite - but being in them is little better than being a mere ghost, because their bodies are not suitable for magic... and my possession shortens their lifespan, They didn’t live long…”
"Later... four years ago... there seemed to be hope for my resurrection. A young, stupid, gullible wizard walked into the forest where I settled, and happened to be bumped into by me."
"... Oh, that seemed like my dream opportunity... Because he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school... He was easily manipulated by me... He brought me back to this country, and later I possessed him, monitored him closely, and guided him. He carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I didn't steal the Philosopher's Stone, and I couldn't guarantee immortality. I was foiled... this time by another boy! Just barely!"
There was another silence, no movement, not even the yew leaves at the edge of the cemetery. The members remained motionless, their shining eyes on the masks staring at the young man, as if they were thinking about something.
"That servant... left Hogwarts with my will." The young man continued, "I returned to that distant hiding place, and then, the servant also died... However, I gained a more powerful power because of it. strength!"
"Believe me, it wasn't easy... Yeah, that was probably my darkest period - there were no Death Eaters, not one, and I had to rely on myself."
One or two wizards in the circle moved uneasily, but the young man ignored them.
"Then, less than a year ago, when I had almost given up hope, hope finally appeared... a servant found me."
"...that is Wormtail, who faked his own death to escape justice and was chased by people he once considered friends, so he decided to return to his master. He was in the country that has long been said to be my hiding place. Find me...and help me succeed in mastering the power I now have."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, and a ball of black energy immediately flashed in his palm, like a burning black flame—exactly the same as the two shadows in his pupils.
The black flame seemed to be able to swallow light, and it was as black as ink, making people feel heart-stopping.
"But it's a pity that he died in the end - at the hands of our current 'ally'. Do you think this is interesting?"
The young man showed a terrifying smile, and his eyes became hollow and cold.
"I know... Yes, I understand... You must be wondering, since that McClain has been against me, why should I cooperate with him..."
"In fact, I can tell you!" He chuckled, "Because I know very well that his philosophy is completely different from that hypocritical old man Dumbledore! He can understand the meaning of the existence of black magic, and , he is also obsessed with it! Intoxicated by it!"
Having said this, he smiled evilly, with a kind of calm fanaticism in his smile.
"... As for magic, he can't really deny it just because he says he denies it!"
…
At the same time, in Hogwarts Castle, several "students" with abnormal behavior were communicating with each other with their eyes.
Although they have not acted rashly yet, they are waiting for the best time to take action - opportunities are created by people and cannot be easily waited for.
The person responsible for creating the "opportunity" was Fleur's mother who was under the Imperius Curse.
At the Triwizard Tournament, she was sitting next to little Gabrielle with an indifferent expression, her eyes fixed on the magic flame in the center of the circular platform below.
Once Fleur obtains the Golden Diadem of Ravenclaw as the Triwizard Cup and emerges from there, she will start to cause commotion and take advantage of the chaos to send out the Dark Mark to notify the people she "should" notify in order to create a greater crisis. confusion.
But if Furong did not obtain the Golden Crown, she would have to wait for the Golden Crown to appear before taking action.
There was no room for failure in this operation, because the Imperius Curse on Fleur's mother was cast by Voldemort himself - for him, this was simply the most elaborate test plan.
But Voldemort, who secretly planned all this, did not expect that his series of actions had been guessed by Maka long before he left.
This is a game between Maka and Voldemort. Although the two are far apart now, their confrontation has already started when Maka eliminated those werewolves.
"...I know," Dumbledore, who was sitting at the guest of honor seat, leaned back slightly and whispered to the seemingly unattended person behind him, "I'm sorry to bother you, Alastor... Let everyone be alert and pay attention. Everything going on inside and outside the school!”