Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 411, Section 405: Offer your loyalty, and I will grant you a position second only to mine.

Voldemort, who had wreaked havoc at the Ministry of Magic, returned to the Death Eaters' temporary encampment, which was the home of one of the Death Eaters. Although Lucius owned several other estates elsewhere, he couldn't just fleece one of them.

Furthermore, in the recent "Manor Attack," Lucius, as a victim, has been under the protection of the Aurors to "avoid" persecution by the Death Eaters.

The fact that the number two figure in the Death Eater army was worried about being persecuted by the Death Eaters was utterly ridiculous.

However, this is reality, and reality is often more bizarre than stories.

"Master." The Death Eaters obediently knelt at Voldemort's feet.

They were supposed to be rescuing captured Death Eaters, but when Voldemort returned alone, no one dared to question him. Nobody wanted to risk offending Voldemort for the sake of a few "comrades," even if he seemed to be in a really good mood.

"Avery, have someone make preparations. I'm going to Nurmengard Prison in a week."

Voldemort was a decisive man; once he made a decision, no one could change it, no matter when he set a time.

"Yes, Master."

With Lucius absent, Avery became Voldemort's personal secretary. After all, you can't expect Bella and the other fugitives to show up in the wizarding world to do things, can you? Avery was much more obedient than before, keeping his head down and not daring to say a single unnecessary word.

The day after the chaos at the Ministry of Magic, the Daily Prophet was unusually quiet. Its front page headline wasn't something like "Voldemort Returns," but rather trivial matters. Similarly, another major newspaper, the Daily Poisons and Antidotes, still had its front page headline about the Harry Potter movie.

The same thing happened on the third and fourth days, and the news seemed to fade into obscurity.

But there's some surprising news to tell you the opposite – Fudge is assembling his fire spirit army, planning to rule the wizarding world.

This kind of content, which sounds like nonsense and looks even more outrageous, is very popular among wizards, who treat it as a serialized fantasy novel.

The Ministry of Magic staff who saw Voldemort in the square that day spread the word among wizards through word of mouth—"The man whose name cannot be mentioned" has returned, but unfortunately, not many people believed it.

Finally, after five days, the Daily Prophet had a different news segment: the Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban had been successfully captured under the leadership of Minister of Magic Fudge, but a small number of the most vicious Death Eaters were still at large.

The Daily Prophet advises everyone to be careful when traveling and to notify the Ministry of Magic immediately if anything unusual is discovered.

A week later, Voldemort arrived in Austria as promised with his Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters marched into Nurmengard, a prison that rivaled Azkaban in all of Europe, without any unnecessary words. Anyone who dared to stop them was instantly killed by a spell.

Arrogant

Voldemort has become extremely high-profile, showing absolutely no intention of hiding his true intentions.

The three major magic academies in Europe are located in England, France, and Germany. The magic ministries of other countries are far inferior to these three places. Even the Aurors in England are no match for them, let alone the Austrian Aurors, which are clearly much weaker.

Vulnerable.

The Death Eaters easily breached the defenses of the Austrian Aurors, nearly destroying the entire Austrian Ministry of Magic.

Pushing open the gates of Nurmengard Castle, looking at the towering spires and the sturdy walls surrounding it, Voldemort suddenly thought that finding a castle as a base wouldn't be a bad choice.

For example, Hogwarts is quite good.

He and his Death Eaters never had a fixed meeting place. It always felt a bit off.

Voldemort led his men to the top of the castle tower. Before entering the room, Voldemort waved for the others to stay where they were, and he went in alone.

After all, he was once a renowned dark wizard, and Voldemort believed that the other party should be given the respect he deserved. Of course, if the other party refused to cooperate, then Voldemort would not hesitate to "bestow" upon him a "big gourd" (a metaphor for being devoured). The respect Voldemort gave was limited.

Pushing open the door, you are greeted by an unremarkable room with very simple furnishings.

There was only a bed, a table, and a stool, with a bowl of unfinished white porridge on the table.

It's hard to imagine that this is the room of the former dark wizard Grindelwald. It's not much different from the room of an ordinary lonely old man, or even worse. At least they would have a radio or something to relieve their boredom.

An elderly man with gray hair was standing by the window, seemingly gazing into the distance. When Voldemort entered, he turned slightly, as if waiting for the other party to arrive, and gave a faint greeting.

"Hello, dark wizard who dares not show his real name."

Grindelwald did not call Voldemort "Tom" like Dumbledore and Dudley, nor did he call him "Mysterious Man" or "Dark Lord" like other wizards, nor did he call him "Dark Lord" like the Death Eaters. Instead, he used a special title: "Dark Wizard."

Hehehe

Voldemort didn't mind Grindelwald's 'rudeness'. Sensing the magic emanating from the other man and confirming his identity, he let out a sharp laugh: "Mr. Grindelwald, the most wicked dark wizard, the initiator of the wizarding reform, is in a sense my 'predecessor'. I was inspired by you."

"'Senior'? I don't deserve that title."

Grindelwald shook his head: "I'm not like you. I'm just an ordinary, failed, lonely old wizard."

He called Voldemort the Dark Wizard, while referring to himself as the Old Wizard.

He never believed that what he did was wrong. He believed that everything he did was for the benefit of all mankind and was not dark, so he was not a dark wizard.

Although the outside world considers him to be an extremely evil dark wizard.

Voldemort failed to grasp the deeper meaning behind Grindelwald's words. At first glance, he thought it was a compliment, a way of elevating himself through self-deprecation, and to be honest, he was somewhat pleased. However, Voldemort's attention was focused on something else entirely. He only wanted to learn one thing from the other man, a crucial piece of information for dealing with Dumbledore.

"I need to know the secrets of the Elder Wand. You once possessed it, so you should know to tell me everything you know, and I can take you away from this hellhole."

"Of course, if you are willing to offer your loyalty, I will grant you a position second only to mine."

(End of this chapter)