Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 188 People in Dire Straits

Leaving aside Hogwarts, which is gradually coming under Umbridge's control, Voldemort at Malfoy Manor has finally made some new moves.

Since July, the Death Eaters have been quite active, but in most cases, it was Old Voldemort who summoned his servants one by one and gave them instructions.

As far as Ike knew, only Lucius volunteered to pass on information to Voldemort based on his good relationship with the higher-ups in the Ministry of Magic; the others had gone to contact the Death Eaters and dark wizards.

After all, only a minority of people were actually branded with the Dark Mark by Voldemort. The vast majority of those who had followed him were unaware of his resurrection. This is where Norton, Crabbe, Goyle, and McNeil needed to step in.

Wormtail had changed his identity; he had become Old Voldemort's personal attendant, responsible for attending to Old Voldemort's daily needs. After a period of recuperation, Graybury recovered from his injuries and left. He needed to gather all the werewolves in England, which was the only reason Old Voldemort had Ike bring him over.

Comrade Voldemort has always looked down on these guys. In fact, Death Eaters like Lucius, who come from a pure-blood family, also think the same way. In their eyes, werewolves are just inhuman beasts whose only purpose is to serve as cannon fodder in large-scale battles against the Ministry of Magic.

Ike had known for a long time that there was a strict hierarchy among Voldemort's followers. Undoubtedly, Voldemort was at the top, followed by Ike, Lucius, Snape, McNeil, and others branded with the Dark Mark. Below them were the dark wizards who had allied themselves with Voldemort. At the very bottom were werewolves, giants, and Dementors.

The class distinctions are exceptionally clear.

"Young master, everyone has arrived. The master wants you to come over quickly." Wormtail's voice interrupted Ike, who was thinking about the path to creating the spell in the hut. He straightened his robes, then pushed open the door and followed Wormtail into the castle's basement.

Before we knew it, it was already October. Comrade Lao Fu's group had expanded considerably, and more and more people were coming to Malfoy Manor to see him, especially recently, with several people coming every day.

Ike saw it all, but didn't take it too seriously. In fact, ever since he got the Book of Melvin from Old Volt last time, he had been doing his own research in the laboratory that Lucius had prepared for him. Perhaps intentionally, Old Volt didn't give him any new tasks.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems that things have changed.

"Do you know what it is, Wormtail?" Ike asked softly as he walked on the lawn of the manor.

"Master has summoned many people, all of whom are in the basement." Insect Tail did not answer directly, as if he were answering a different question, but in fact, even he, who served Old Fu every day, did not know what was to be done today.

Ike nodded, already having a guess in his mind. Without saying anything more, he and Wormtail walked straight into the castle and went up the stairs to the basement.

As soon as I entered, I noticed that there were quite a lot of people here today. There were at least twenty or thirty people sitting or standing in the huge basement. Lucius, McNeil, Norton, and Graybury were all there, as well as many other guys I had never seen before.

Old Fu sat at the head of the long table. When he saw Ike come in, he waved and pointed to the chair to his right. Ike walked over leisurely, bowed slightly to Old Fu, said "Teacher," and sat down. Insect Tail stood directly behind Old Fu, the wide chair back completely covering half of his body.

"Welcome!" Comrade Lao Fu stood up, spread his arms, and said loudly, "I am very pleased! Despite some setbacks, after confirming the situation, you chose to believe and answered my call today to come here."

"Some of them are familiar faces, people who used to follow me..." His bloodshot eyes swept over the crowd, then suddenly landed on one person, and he chuckled, saying, "Resm, it's a pleasure to have you here. I heard you've been having a tough time?"

A gaunt man stood up. His robe was covered in pudding, and his hair was filthy. When he opened his mouth, he was missing two front teeth, and the rest were yellowish-brown.

"Great Dark Lord, you actually remember a nobody like me, I..." Raism was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

"Sit down, sit down, Resm, you deserve a seat," Old Voldemort waved his hand. "I know all about it. Those guys at the Ministry of Magic have tormented you. They've taken everything from you, even your family..."

"So, I won't hold those words against you. After all, you have to try to live on, right?"

Comrade Lao Fu's expression changed instantly. He coldly surveyed the surroundings, and everyone in his sight lowered their heads.

"I don't blame you. No one would have imagined that the great Dark Lord would be defeated by a mere infant..." Comrade Old Voldemort said. "But I'm back, and as you've probably heard, that boy is no longer a problem. I will kill him myself!"

He paused, then continued, "Yes, yes, but we still need to deal with that old geezer Dumbledore, and to do that, we need to come up with a good plan..."

"Hehehehe..." Suddenly, Comrade Lao Fu burst into laughter, only stopping after a while. "However, our minister seems to care even more than we do. Perhaps I should give him a gift to express my gratitude?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Everyone laughed, with a few malicious and vulgar words mixed in, but the atmosphere eased a little. Old Comrade Fu was indeed a bit scary just now.

Everyone laughed for a while, and then stopped when they saw Comrade Lao Fu extend his hand.

"Of course, we can't expect Fudge to do everything," Comrade Old Fu said. "There are some things we still need to do ourselves."

"For example, freeing our brothers and sisters trapped in Azkaban!"

"The Dark Lord!"

"what!"

"The Dark Lord!"

People shouted and banged on the table, praising Comrade Lao Fu's decision as incredibly wise. Lao Fu was clearly enjoying himself; he spread his arms wide, held his head high, and nodded from time to time.

"We need more strength, we need more people to join us..."

"So go, find our former family, and bring them back to our lives..."

The crowd surged, especially those who looked impoverished, who desperately pushed their way towards Comrade Fu, trying to get close to him and kiss his robe. Comrade Fu stood there with his arms outstretched, but he was quickly surrounded. People rolled around at his feet, grabbing and snatching the hem of his robe, which soon became soaked.

Lucius and the other Death Eaters had already stood up and moved aside, quietly watching the chaotic scene. This meeting was essentially a one-man show by Old Voldemort, and their reaction was unnecessary.

The reason these impoverished fellows have fallen to such a state is not without reason that they come from pure-blood families. They spent a great deal of their wealth to escape trial, and they must try to make up for it in other ways.

Besides, they were Comrade Lao Fu's servants, completely different from these cannon fodder.

(End of this chapter)