Chapter 773: Voldemort: The Advantage is Mine (Edited)

"Master."

Lucius approached Voldemort with excitement, while Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. followed closely behind.

"I suppose you have good news for me, Lucius," Voldemort said absentmindedly, casually stroking Nagini who was coiled beside his chair, without even looking at Lucius.

"Your wisdom is as deep as the sea, my Lord," Lucius offered a forced compliment and quickly proceeded to claim credit, saying, "Draco has sent a message, taking advantage of the moment when most of the students are busy with the Apparition Charm exam. He has successfully repaired the Vanishing Cabinet."

In truth, Voldemort had already guessed the reason for Lucius' visit.

After all, Lucius had been ostracized from the inner circle of Death Eaters, and only Draco's mission could restore the Malfoy family's importance by his side.

However, Voldemort wasn't truly interested in this matter, and he cared little whether Draco's mission succeeded or not.

He had already decided that Dumbledore was in grave danger, so he allowed Draco to continue the mission as a last resort, but also as a way to punish the Malfoys, so that other wavering Death Eaters would see the light and work for him.

Moreover, Lucius' ability to handle affairs was actually above the standard among Death Eaters, and the Malfoys had contributed a great deal of money and effort to his cause, so Voldemort needed an excuse to bring Lucius back into the inner circle.

In the Dark Lord's mind, if he had forgiven Lucius so mercifully, then Lucius should be grateful for all he had to offer... just like the fervent believers, the Lestranges.

"Hmm," Voldemort responded nonchalantly, pausing for a moment before speaking again, "So, when do you and Draco plan to carry out the test?"

Although those sent there were intended to be cannon fodder, Voldemort wanted to seize this opportunity to cause more trouble for Dumbledore, even if it was just to agitate him into an earlier demise.

"Master, Draco offered me two options," Lucius respectfully replied.

"Oh? Tell me," Voldemort became somewhat interested.

The Dark Lord held a favorable opinion of Draco Malfoy and believed he would make a better servant to utilize and control than Lucius.

"There will soon be two special days at Hogwarts, the most recent being a weekend when one can travel to Hogsmeade, and Professor McGonagall will also be away from Hogwarts, which will assist us in some way."

Lucius glanced slightly at Voldemort, noticing that the other man didn't seem very interested in that option, and after thinking for a moment, he guessed what Voldemort was planning: taking the opportunity to harm the Hogwarts students.

In addition to making things difficult for Dumbledore, it would also give the Ministry of Magic, which he largely controlled, the chance to hold them accountable and possibly even intervene in Hogwarts' affairs...

Of course, the latter was less likely, as the attacker had escaped from the Ministry's prison, but it would still be a problem for Dumbledore, and if he were truly gravely injured, it would undoubtedly drain much of his energy and worsen his condition.

With that in mind, Lucius continued respectfully, "The other option is the final Quidditch match near the end of the term, but according to Draco's observations, Professor McGonagall isn't interested in Quidditch, so if we invade at that time, the chances of encountering her are greater."

If Voldemort truly wanted to reach the students, the most likely scenario would be during the Quidditch match, and with some of his men attacking the students on the field, he could easily cause many casualties.

Lucius was worried but dared not show any inclination or deliberately follow Voldemort's ideas, as the Dark Lord disliked being second-guessed.

Furthermore, it was unlikely that Hogwarts could kill all the attackers in the future. They would have to hand them over to the Ministry after subduing them, so they couldn't just stay outside without further action. That would only expose the Malfoys and Snape.

The good news was that there was still time before the Quidditch match, and Dumbledore should be able to find a solution.

Lucius tried to keep his mind blank, not daring to let any emotions escape, in case Voldemort sensed that something was wrong.

Both Lucius and Narcissa had been practicing Occlumency since they had decided to betray the Dark Lord, so Lucius had not been able to reveal himself to Voldemort.

After an oppressive silence...

"Let's do it during the Quidditch match."

Indeed, Voldemort chose the timeframe that would cause the most casualties and ordered, "Tell Draco to find a way to bring the Vanishing Cabinet near the field before the match begins."

"As you command, my lord."

Lucius nodded, then bowed respectfully and exited the room backward.

As Lucius had suspected, Voldemort had chosen the time during the Quidditch match to inflict more casualties. And the more critical the situation for the student, the more valuable the test would be.

Furthermore, Voldemort had chosen a later Quidditch match because he needed to find out where the Elder Wand was and because he needed time to create and hide the new Horcruxes.

Voldemort stroked Nagini and contemplated silently.

The escaped prisoners from Azkaban were not in a suitable position to attack the students, as they wouldn't dare offend so many wizarding families. So the task had to be entrusted to Greyback and his werewolves, while the prisoners intercepted support from within the castle.

The real focus of the test was also on the interception group. Voldemort needed to know if Dumbledore would appear and in what condition he would be when he did. This task naturally fell to Snape and Lucius, but with just the two of them, it didn't seem sufficient...

Voldemort pondered for a moment and then said, "Bellatrix, go fetch Greyback and Umbridge."

Bellatrix, who had been waiting silently since Lucius entered, received the order and without uttering a word, left the room to quickly find the two individuals Voldemort had summoned.

"As for testing Dumbledore, I assume you are aware of it..." Voldemort interrupted the compliments with a wave of his hand and informed them of his preparations.

"... Greyback, you and your men only need to cause as much harm as possible to the students. I don't need you to fight for your lives against the Hogwarts professors. You can surrender as soon as you see something going wrong. Pius will take care of your 'captivity'."

This group of cannon fodder was not fervent followers of Voldemort, so he knew it wasn't realistic to expect them to die for him. Instead, he offered them an exit strategy, as the werewolf faction was not his primary objective anyway.

Greyback not only had no issue with Voldemort's arrangement but even had the audacity to say, "Leave it to me, my lord! It doesn't have to be a bother at all. Just wait until I catch my boys, kill all the Hogwarts professors, and bring you Harry Potter!"

Barty Crouch Jr. snorted disdainfully, and Voldemort ignored the confused fool and turned to Umbridge.

"Umbridge, you will be in charge of leading the others to intercept the support from Hogwarts. I don't need you to cause much harm, just keep them occupied as long as you can and see if Dumbledore shows up. Once subdued, I believe you know what to do."

"The former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, planned this attack to get back at Dumbledore," Umbridge responded with a forced smile.

She was reluctant to go to Hogwarts because her mission meant being cannon fodder, and with Dumbledore and that little monster Fish, it was impossible for them, as cannon fodder, to capture Hogwarts.

But Umbridge knew she had no right to refuse, so she wisely showed no resistance. The Dementors were with Voldemort now, and Pius was one of theirs, so even if they were caught again, they shouldn't suffer much...

That was all Umbridge could do to console herself.

"Very well," Voldemort nodded, satisfied.

He knew, of course, that Umbridge's excuse would not fool Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, but it was all he needed to prevent Thicknesse from holding Dumbledore back.

Of course, it didn't matter if Umbridge accidentally died on the mission.

Pius had already controlled public opinion, portraying her as following Fudge's orders, and even if she died, he could still blame Fudge, although it would be a bit more difficult.

Voldemort also didn't care about Umbridge's life. The woman had nothing more than her ability to flatter and torture, and it wouldn't be a pity to see her die.

Voldemort reviewed his plans and arrangements once again and found no issues.

By the time Dumbledore was dead and he had obtained the Elder Wand, the only problem would be Fish McGonagall. But now he had a way to deal with that super Patronus, and that giant squid wouldn't have been anything if his own wand hadn't been destroyed. Even if Fish had unleashed those creatures from the Forbidden Forest, he still had dark creatures like giants, werewolves, vampires, and Dementors at his disposal.

So...

The final victory must belong to the greatest Dark Lord of all time.

Voldemort was convinced of this...

Unfortunately, he had not read the article about the third Dark Lord.