Chapter 760: Dumbledore's Plan (Edited)

Sirius, who had wanted to leave to ask Kreacher about the Horcrux, stayed behind when he heard Dumbledore talking about the plan involving Snape and Lucius Malfoy, keeping his ears attentive to hear what Dumbledore had to say.

Dumbledore had no intention of hiding anything from him and spoke freely.

Initially, Lucius was just like Snape, a spy for Voldemort. After all, Snape had to stay at the school most of the time, and Voldemort had many things he couldn't know in time. With Voldemort's character, he wouldn't disclose everything to one of his subordinates. Therefore, Lucius was necessary as Snape's spy to fill in the gaps.

For example... Dumbledore knew in advance that the Death Eaters planned to take control of Amelia Bones, the favored candidate for Minister of Magic. They were planning to kill her if they couldn't achieve their goal, to make way for the Death Eaters who were also running for the position.

With Voldemort still lurking and the general atmosphere at the Ministry unwilling to trust Dumbledore, he had no choice but to persuade Lady Bones to withdraw her candidacy.

Regarding the fact that the Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, was now under Voldemort's control, Dumbledore had learned from Lucius that a minister had been Imperiused by a Death Eater. But for the time being, it was nothing compared to exposing Lucius as a spy.

After all, when Fudge was in power, he hindered Dumbledore in every way, and Thicknesse had been much more cautious than him to avoid exposing himself.

So far, Thicknesse had only managed to stumble upon insignificant matters and spy on Dumbledore and some members of the Order of the Phoenix using the Floo Network.

If Dumbledore hadn't known about him, he wouldn't have suspected anything.

But when Voldemort learned that Dumbledore had found and destroyed his Horcrux, the Golden Goblet, he was already upset because the diary had fallen into Dumbledore's hands. After torturing Lucius a little more, Voldemort took the opportunity to assign a mission to his son Draco: to kill Dumbledore.

Voldemort knew, of course, that Draco wouldn't be able to complete the task, and he was even certain that young Draco would be exposed soon. But Voldemort also knew enough about Dumbledore's "hypocrisy" to understand that even if Dumbledore knew that Draco wanted to kill him, he wouldn't harm Draco and would pretend not to know anything.

He did it purely to annoy Dumbledore and discourage any Death Eater who might have been tempted.

However, what Voldemort didn't know was that the Malfoys had already switched sides, and their actions only strengthened Lucius' decision to betray him.

Upon learning of Draco's situation through Snape, Dumbledore, who was already under the curse of the Ring, quickly devised a plan: he had Snape send him the Ring.

He had Snape reveal to Voldemort that he was under the curse, and then he had Draco propose to Voldemort to invade Hogwarts using the Vanishing Cabinet. If Fish couldn't really cure him, Dumbledore would find the right moment to use his old life to lure Voldemort. And if Fish did cure him... then he could also fake his death.

It was a surprise to discover that Voldemort seemed to be using another Horcrux as bait to weaken him, and Dumbledore only adjusted his plan slightly to make his "death" more logical.

And Dumbledore didn't expect Voldemort to actually appear in person and reveal even more about Harry's connection with him.

"Probably because we've all had a dose of Felix Felicis, otherwise the day wouldn't have gone so well, and I wouldn't have lived for years," Dumbledore said cheerfully, shrugging his shoulders.

Professor McGonagall maintained a serious expression and looked at Dumbledore threateningly.

Knowing that there might be a trap, he still dares to take Fish and risk it... Believe it or not, if something happens to Fish, she will rebel and become a Death Eater in no time!

Hermione's thoughts were similar to Professor McGonagall's, except she didn't dare to show her displeasure as openly as Professor McGonagall did. She could only look at Dumbledore with resentful eyes.

Dumbledore felt uncomfortable being stared at by the two witches, one tall and one small, but he also knew that he was wrong, so he could only avoid their eyes with embarrassment.

Harry and Sirius, on the other hand, had a different approach as they listened to Dumbledore's plan with mixed emotions.

They were excited because the plan was very feasible, and Voldemort had seen Dumbledore half-dead after drinking the potion with his own eyes. They were conflicted, however, because Snape and Malfoy, whom they had always hated and distrusted, had played a crucial role behind the scenes.

And the two of them, one staying at the headquarters with nothing to do, and the other enjoying the harmony and peace of school life without knowing anything.

Now, Harry and Sirius looked at Dumbledore with resentment.

Dumbledore: "..."

It was only logical that Fish would come to his rescue at that moment.

"So, Albus, are you going to play dead now?"

?ω?

Fish had no problem with this plan. In nature, there were many animals that had the ability to play dead, and it was not uncommon for them to use it for hunting.

"No need to rush," Dumbledore said with a satisfied smile. "Voldemort has just suffered a great loss today. He won't have the courage to invade Hogwarts... or even if he's certain that I'm really dead, he probably won't come himself. After all, besides me, there's Fish, the man who defeated him, and Harry, his destined nemesis, at the school. So at most, we'll weaken him."

"What if we trust that cabinet you mentioned and go fight Voldemort?" Fish offered another option.

"Surely Voldemort will closely monitor the other cabinet and set warning spells in case something happens here." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "The Malfoys would be in danger, especially now that Lucius's wand is destroyed. If Voldemort gets angry with him or suspects him, he would be powerless without it."

"True..."

(ˇˇ)

Fish nodded approvingly and said with a sorrowful expression, "Voldemort is a coward, meow!"

But the mournful expression on Fish's face quickly turned into a celebratory one. "Thank goodness he was so timid. Otherwise, we would have been in danger today, and Fish wouldn't have had much strength left to fight him, meow."

"So we have to thank Horace for the Felix Felicis Potion," Dumbledore joked with a smile.

Then he felt a shiver run down his spine, a chilling sensation that spread through his body and made his hairs stand on end.

Dumbledore turned his head and saw Professor McGonagall staring at him coldly through her square spectacles.

"Ahem!" He averted his gaze once again and returned the conversation to a stern tone. "This plan won't directly take care of Voldemort, but it will weaken him. And if we're lucky, he will likely launch an invasion on Hogwarts at the same time as the Ministry of Magic, which has been infiltrated by Death Eaters, and he will personally take the lead... that's when the real battle will begin."

"And what we have to do now..." he turned his attention to Harry and Sirius, "is to find and destroy as many of Voldemort's Horcruxes as we can."

"I'll go back for Kreacher!" Sirius stood up and reached for the Portkey on the table.

"Wait a moment, Sirius." Dumbledore stopped him and said in a softer voice, "There's one more thing that it's time for Harry to know... you, as his godfather, have the right and the need to know..."