A Few Traitors Among Us

As Ivan spoke, Joseph and the others bowed their heads in fear. No one dared to fabricate such a powerful Dark Lord as Ivan did.

Ivan, who had been using Legilimency the whole time, could clearly sense the fear in everyone, and he frowned.

It seems that the influence of Lord Voldemort was so great that his few words were not enough to change their minds.

Even so, Ivan did not regret announcing Voldemort's return, as he knew that it could not be kept a secret. He would rather be the one to reveal the truth than wait for them to find out from other sources.

With this in mind, Ivan lost all inhibitions and continued speaking.

"Now that Lord Voldemort has used certain means to regain his powers, there is little doubt that some of you have received word of this in advance…"

Ivan looked around the room, his eyes resting briefly on the faces of the pure-bloods, before settling on Doggett. "I don't suppose I'm wrong, do I, Doggett? Don't you want to talk about it?"

Everyone's eyes turned in the same direction.

Doggett was silent for a while, then he sighed and pulled open his left sleeve in front of everyone, revealing the strange Dark Mark on his wrist.

"A few months ago, the Dark Mark became more prominent, a sign of the Dark Lord's growing power. Four days ago, when this was at its height, the Dark Mark suddenly became very hot… As Lord Harls said, the man had regained his power and was summoning his servants…"

"I've never heard you speak of this before, Dougett…" Alicia challenged him, looking at him sharply.

"I could not be certain of that until today, so I was going to wait for Lord Harles to return and discuss it with you…" Doggett explained with a casual expression.

After a pause, Doggett continued, perhaps thinking this was not good enough. "On that occasion, I did not answer the Dark Lord's call. A loser who stirs up chaos through fear is not worth following."

Yvonne stared at Doggart appraisingly.

He certainly knew that she was hiding the fact that Lord Voldemort had come back to life for more than just a few reasons.

However, Dougatt's thoughts were still within his tolerable limits, so Ivan had no intention of exposing him.

"A wise choice. To side with the remnants of an old age would be to seek your own destruction!"

Doggett's relief was evident, and the atmosphere seemed to ease, but Ivan's next words quickly caused some hearts to leap into their throats.

"It's just a pity that not everyone is as clear-minded and able to make the right decision as you…"

"I'm sorry to hear that, everyone!" Ivan said, looking around at the crowd with a tone of disappointment. "We have a few traitors among us, who may have been in the power of the Dark Lord, or who may have been promised something, but in short, they have turned their backs on us…"

When Ivan finished speaking, the crowd looked around for the traitors, and soon began to question each other, due to the various contradictions.

"Five seconds, and I'll give these people a chance to repent!" Yvonne interrupted.

The room fell silent again.

Avery, hiding in the crowd, was so caught up in the battle that he almost stepped forward when Ivan said it.

However, reason told him that Ivan would never be so kind as to forgive such traitors.

All of this was most likely part of a plot to lure the betrayers out of hiding, and Avery suspected that Yvonne had no idea who the betrayers were, but had received information that she was deliberately trying to blow them up.

Therefore, as long as he could stabilize himself, there was a high chance that he would be able to escape this calamity!

Avery kept comforting himself, hiding in the crowd and saying nothing.

Five seconds passed in the blink of an eye, and Ivan's voice shattered the illusion.

"Avery, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you'd at least have the courage to come forward," Yvonne sneered.

Under Ivan's watchful eye, the wizards gathered there spontaneously moved away, exposing Avery's hiding place.

Avery's heart skipped a beat when he heard his name, but he managed to keep his face calm as he tried to defend himself. "Sir Harls, I'm afraid you've misunderstood…"

Yvonne did not wait for him to finish. "You didn't think I wouldn't see you that night, did you, Avery?"

Ivan had no interest in listening to Avery's excuses. Avery's mind, as defenseless as a sieve, was revealing everything he was thinking.

Not to mention, he saw the faces of most of the Death Eaters in Winky's memories before leaving school, including Avery's…

The first thing the werewolves did was draw their wands and surround Avery, but no one attacked without Ivan's orders.

Avery's mind went blank, and he knew he was finished. His body went limp, and he collapsed to the floor. He crawled all the way to Ivan's seat and begged in a trembling voice.

"Sir Harls! Please believe me when I say that I was forced to do this by the Dark Lord, no, the Dark Lord! He tortured me relentlessly with the Cruciatus Curse, destroying my will and forcing me to divulge information about Knockturn Alley to him, or else… or else he will kill my wife and children…"

"So you're not so wicked after all," Ivan said in a genial tone, rising to his feet. "But I'm more or less curious as to how Voldemort tortured you…"

"Is it like this?" Ivan asked, turning to Avery, who was kneeling beside him. He waved his wand without warning, and his voice became cold. "Cucio ~ (heart-wrenching)"

"Aaaaaah!" Avery screamed in pain, as if someone had ripped off a piece of his flesh with their bare hands.

Avery was thrashing around on the floor, tears and snot pouring out of his eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, the torture finally ended, and Avery slumped to the ground, twitching like a dead fish. His lifeless eyes were blank, as if he could not understand why Ivan would suddenly attack him.

"I gave you a second chance, but you lied to me again!" Ivan said coldly, looking at Avery. "That's not what I was told!"