In a deep, quiet and well-guarded underground fortress, sparse black fog floated in from all directions, forming the weak figure of Voldemort.
After arriving at the bunker, Voldemort was visibly relieved.
This is an underground building that was built with the financial, human and material resources of several very wealthy pure-blood families. It is also the most confidential gathering base that he asked the Death Eaters to build after his return.
Although the bunker's structure, furnishings and decorations are very simple at present due to the short construction time, the general structure of the bunker has been clearly constructed in a short time under the influence of various magical spells in the magic world, and at least there is no problem in using it to hide people.
Most importantly, Voldemort had placed a Fidelius Charm on the bunker and had himself become the Secret-Keeper.
In other words, unless he himself became an undercover Death Eater, no one other than the Death Eaters would ever know the location of the bunker!
This bunker is one of the reasons why Voldemort was able to make a comeback.
Before this action, he thought he had carefully formulated a second plan, leaving himself a way out to prevent failure like the last time he stole the Philosopher's Stone, so that he would have to use the Horcrux to gain power again...
Voldemort shook his head, calmed down, and slightly tidied up his embarrassed image and expression. Then he sat at the long table in the conference room, waiting for the arrival of many Death Eaters.
In a moment, amidst a series of "bang" and "bang" sounds, the Death Eaters Apparated one after another to the bunker and sat around a long table in the same way as they did during the meeting at Malfoy Manor.
Different from their previous proud, mysterious or conceited images, these Death Eaters were now in a mess after the battle with Scrimgeour's Aurors. The uniform black robes and masks they wore were in tatters.
Voldemort looked around and discovered that there were very few people in the entire meeting room who were not injured!
"Scrimgeour only brought a few Aurors with him, and I beat two of their leaders to the point where they lost their ability to fight..." he said coldly, "I didn't expect that you, the elites of the wizarding world, would be tossed into such a miserable state."
"What a bunch of rubbish!"
Voldemort scolded his men harshly, completely forgetting that his own escape from the disaster was just as embarrassing as theirs.
The Death Eaters also secretly groaned in their hearts.
Twelve years have passed. When they chose to follow Voldemort, they were young and energetic, and full of fighting spirit. Of course, they had a strong desire to fight and superb combat effectiveness.
However, most of them are now in their thirties or forties, and some are even in their forties or fifties. These noble pure-bloods or elites in the magic world have been accustomed to a life of luxury for twelve years.
Some of these people who should gain weight gained weight, some who should suffer from kidney deficiency suffered from kidney deficiency. Not to mention improving their fighting power, very few of them did not regress!
All in all, the Death Eaters' team is certainly no longer as strong as it once was.
What's more, relying on their numerical advantage, they were able to gain the upper hand in the battle with the Aurors at the beginning.
However, Voldemort's act of secretly escaping alone really gave them a "surprise", and the Death Eaters instantly gave up the idea of continuing to fight.
Wizards of this age have long passed the age of youth and recklessness, and they are all shrewd and experienced. Who would be willing to risk his life for a Dark Lord who had escaped first
The gap between wizards who have lost their desire to fight and those who fight for the justice in their hearts is naturally widened.
As for the Death Eaters' dishevelled clothes and bleeding wounds, they were not necessarily caused during the battle with the Aurors.
In fact, some of the wounds were inflicted by the Death Eaters themselves, and some of the torn clothes were also torn by themselves.
If you don't do this, and the Dark Lord sees that everyone else is covered in blood, their clothes are torn and they are covered in wounds, but you are the only one who is clean and tidy, what will he think
Comparing the Dark Lord's rage with their own embarrassment for a few minutes, those evil men certainly were unwilling to face the Dark Lord's rage!
The most typical example is Lucius.
As a glorified fence-sitter, he was already slacking off when the fight first started.
Facing the attacks of the Aurors, Lucius hid at the back of the crowd and kept casting some useless but fancy-looking spells, seeming to be trying his best.
At the same time, his expression was also very exaggerated. He gritted his teeth and shouted slogans loudly, but the wand in his hand often did not move at all.
What's even more outrageous is that when no one was paying attention, Lucius quietly chanted the water-making spell "Clear Water Like a Spring", smeared the water on his forehead, and dressed himself up as if he was sweating and exhausted...
After Voldemort escaped first, Lucius was the first to respond to Voldemort's "call" to escape. He immediately sprinted from the back of the team to the coast that was not covered by the Anti-Apparition Spell and escaped from the island.
Before being summoned by Voldemort to the bunker for a meeting, he asked his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, to cast many mild but terrifying spells on him.
Thus, Lucius, who had no wounds on his body and even few wrinkles on his clothes, became the most embarrassed Death Eater present...
“Forget it. I didn’t expect you guys to succeed.” Seeing the extremely embarrassed but hard-working Death Eaters, Voldemort was only angry on the surface and did not continue to pursue their responsibilities. “Tell me, how much did we lose? Nott?”
"Yes, Master." Nott stood up and said in detail, "According to my preliminary statistics, I can judge that Yaxley has been captured by the Ministry of Magic; in addition, McNeill did not escape during the retreat and was hit in the back by a Stunning Spell; and..."
He named several Death Eaters, all of whom were on the list of those who had not returned from this operation.
Voldemort nodded slowly, and suddenly looked around at the Death Eaters with a scrutinizing look.
"We lost quite a few companions in this operation," he asked softly. "So, I think you must be wondering why I left Azkaban before rescuing our companions who were left there."
"I suppose some of you will think that I have failed to keep my word... am I right, fellow Death Eaters?"
"No, you must have your own ideas." Nott said with a flattering smile before he could even sit down, "Your ideas are far beyond our understanding, and we dare not speculate..."
"Nott is right. I do have some other ideas." Voldemort looked at Nott with satisfaction, and then said, "But these ideas of mine are not because I don't want to save our companions, but because I can't save them!"
The Death Eaters at the long table immediately showed some surprised expressions.
“Perhaps you don’t know yet?” Voldemort’s scarlet eyes suddenly widened, staring coldly at everyone present, “I have just confirmed that there are undercover agents of Dumbledore and his team in the Death Eaters’ team!”
"If we rescue our companions in Azkaban at this time, they will be put in danger again after just escaping from the sea of suffering."
"So I left Azkaban." Voldemort made up a passable reason so as not to embarrass himself. "As for when to rescue our companions in Azkaban, we still need to think carefully!"
When the Death Eaters heard Voldemort say "there is an undercover agent confirmed", they were all stunned, and then began to look at other people around them with suspicion.
Among them, Lucius, who was dressed in rags, was so shocked that he jumped up.
He subconsciously thought that Voldemort had learned of his act of tipping off Dracula.
At this time, Voldemort was about to announce to the Death Eaters who the real undercover agent was, and then he saw Lucius jump up.
"Lucius, do you have anything to say?" he asked with some confusion.
Lucius looked at Voldemort's slightly puzzled expression, and suddenly realized that his fence-sitter behavior had not been exposed. The big rock hanging in his heart instantly fell.
But now a new problem arises. How should he explain the reason for his jumping up so as not to arouse the suspicion of this suspicious Dark Lord
Lucius took a deep breath, showing a righteous expression, then clenched his fists and raised them high above his head.
"I can never forsake undercover agents!" he shouted.
Voldemort: "..."
A group of Death Eaters: "..."
“Please sit down first, Lucius.” Voldemort’s mouth twitched, and he motioned for Lucius to sit down. “I have found the undercover agent, but he probably won’t have the courage to come and see me again.”
"Master, who is the traitor?" Nott asked, "I will make him pay for this!"
"The traitor is—"
Before Voldemort could finish his words, the fireplace in the conference room suddenly lit up with a green flame with a "swish", illuminating the dim room.
A wizard with a sallow complexion, greasy long hair and a black robe strode out of the flames, saying anxiously as he walked:
"Master, I have something very important to report to you!"
For a moment, everyone's attention shifted to the wizard who had arrived late.
"Severus Snape, you traitor, how dare you come back to see me?!" As soon as he saw the person coming, Voldemort's scarlet eyes seemed to burn with a strong fire in an instant, and his voice was extremely cold and piercing.
"What?!"
"Severus is a traitor?"
"How can this be?!"
When the Death Eaters heard Voldemort's words, they were instantly furious. They couldn't believe that one of the Dark Lord's most trusted men was actually an undercover agent from Dumbledore's side.
Not only were the Death Eaters surrounding the long table extremely surprised, but even Snape showed a somewhat stunned expression.
"Master, you may have some misunderstandings about me." But soon, he adjusted his mood and said calmly, "You know me, Master, I will never become a traitor!"
“Then how do you explain the map you gave me?” Voldemort said coldly, “Dracula has already arrived on the island of Azkaban, but on the map you made, the red dot representing Dracula has always stayed in Hogwarts and has hardly moved at all!”
"As far as I know, this is most likely because Dracula has learned that there is something wrong with the gift I gave him, so he left it in Hogwarts Castle." Snape explained, "Dracula's actions have never been fixed, and no one can predict where he will go next."
"I don't think this can be used as evidence to prove that I'm undercover!"
“You’re being stubborn, aren’t you?” Voldemort laughed coldly. “Then let me see how you explain the other thing—”
"Our final version of the plan was only officially completed before the operation. It would take at least a few hours to pass the information to Dumbledore and Dracula in time. By that time, the operation would have been perfectly completed!"
"However, I met Dracula, who had been waiting for a long time, outside the Azkaban prison... Such a speed cannot be achieved through normal means of communication. In other words, the undercover agent must be lurking in Hogwarts, and the one who is close to the water will get the moon first!"
"There are only two people in our camp lurking in Hogwarts now—one is you, and the other is my clone."
“Are you trying to say that the undercover agent is not you, but my clone?” Voldemort sneered, “How could I betray myself? How ridiculous!”
"But this is what I want to say, Master!" Snape said suddenly, "Your clone's behavior tonight is very abnormal. I suspect he is really the undercover you are looking for!"
“Hahahahahaha…”
Voldemort laughed. "I never expected you to have a sense of humor, Severus. How could you say that my clone would betray me?"
"Are you desperate enough to try anything, Severus?" His smile faded, and his face gradually turned cold. "If you find anyone here and tell me that he is an undercover agent, it will be more credible than the answer you just gave."
"I'm not joking!" Snape said in a deep voice, "Don't you find it strange? Collecting blood is such a simple thing, but he has been doing it for half a year without any progress..."
"Not only that, as a clone without a physical body, he also has your face when you were young. How did he become an assistant teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts? Even Dumbledore, who knew your appearance when you were young, personally acknowledged his identity as an assistant teacher..."
"So I must advise you to stay alert and be careful of your clones!"
…
…