Homecoming from Hogwarts

Looking at old Nott who hurriedly ran out of the meeting room and went to find the goblin to confirm the information, Lucius, who was standing there in fear, felt sympathetic.

He understood why Old Nott only used coercion and bribery to the goblin instead of taking more direct measures. The magic world had been peaceful for a long time, and they were used to doing things according to the "rules" in these long decades and had not yet regained the state of the war years.

but--
Lucius bent over and looked at the Dark Lord pacing back and forth in the spacious room out of the corner of his eye. A trace of doubt emerged in his mind. The Dark Lord seemed to care a lot about what the goblins of Gringotts said, that Brian opened an ancient vault?
Whose vault did Brian open and what did he get?
Not only Lucius was thinking about this question, but Voldemort was thinking about it as well.

According to Lucius, it was Brian who solved the crisis of the Chamber of Secrets that he created using his notebook, and his Horcrux must have been destroyed by Brian himself.

It is true that a notebook protected by Horcrux magic cannot be destroyed by ordinary mediocre people, but for Brian who is good at Fiendfyre, it is not a difficult task.
It was just the loss of a Horcrux, which was not an unbearable loss. The key question was, did Brian recognize what that thing was?
With his back to Lucius, Voldemort looked out at the eerie garden of Malfoy Manor, trying not to let Lucius see his hidden uneasiness.

The Horcrux is his biggest secret and the basis for his immortality, so there must be no problems with it.

Dumbledore was a pedantic and hypocritical man, so he would not be interested in such a profound magic as the Horcruxes. However, Blaine was born in Slytherin and was greedy for wealth. He was eyeing the position of the headmaster of Hogwarts, which proved that he was an ambitious person, even though the things he pursued were very low-level.

And if Brian had been to the restricted books section of Hogwarts, he had, there was no doubt about it, and had seen the book "Advanced Dark Magic Revealed".

Thinking of this, Voldemort suddenly turned around and looked at Lucius who was bending over, with a cold murderous intent surging in his eyes.

This was the fool who had let his Horcrux be exposed to Amos Tower Braine.

"I regret to tell you, my friend—"

Voldemort twirled his yew wand, and slowly walked to Lucius, staring at him coldly.
"I had been about to forgive your folly, Lucius, but now I have changed my mind—"

With a thud, Malfoy fell to his knees, cold sweat trickling down his temples, his grey eyes filled with despair - Voldemort was going to kill him, and he would definitely not let his family go, Narcissa was in this house now, she couldn't possibly survive, only Draco, but he hadn't contributed any credit to Blaine yet, would Blaine protect Draco?
"Please, my Lord, please have mercy--"

Lucius sobbed and shed tears,

"Please at least let Narcissa and Draco live."

"I am touched, but it is not your word, Lucius, my dear friend—"

Lucius's face suddenly turned pale, as if he had lost his parents.

"Don't be discouraged, Lucius. After all, you have served the Dark Lord well—"

Voldemort smiled coldly.

"Oh, you can barely say you are loyal. So I don't plan to kill you right away. Whether you can survive depends on what news Nott brings back."

It depends on what kind of news Nott brings back.
Lucius, who had almost lost the ability to think, thought dizzily. He didn't quite understand what the Dark Lord meant, but it was obvious that the lives of his family were in danger, including the glorious Malfoy family, which might disappear tonight.

There was a flash of resentment in those gray eyes filled with despair.

By now, Lucius finally saw clearly that the Dark Lord could not bring glory to the pure-blood family. This was not even the purpose of his actions. All he wanted was to enslave everyone and have the power of life and death over everyone.

But this is absolutely unacceptable. If it were just Dumbledore alone, the Malfoy family would have no choice but to follow the Dark Lord to the end.

But now they had Amos Tower Blaine and they also controlled Harry Potter, who was known as the Dark Lord's nemesis. In the past, he disdained Harry Potter, but now, he really hoped that there was something special about the kid with the stupid scar on his head.

Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the Dark Lord's cruelty, and his skills were far less efficient than the agile old Nott more than a decade ago. Just an hour later, he returned to Malfoy Manor and rushed into the room under Lucius's suddenly clenched gaze.

"I found out, Master. I told him everything. Oh, I mean, everything that the goblin saw. I used the Imperius Curse!"

Old Nott shouted happily, and before the Dark Lord asked, he told him all the information he had dug out from the goblin's head. The beginning of Old Nott's narration made Voldemort, who had a stern face, breathe a sigh of relief. It was all a false alarm. Brian didn't come from the vault where his other Horcrux was hidden. He didn't see any clues from the notebook at all!
But as old Nott unfolded the information he had obtained, Voldemort's expression gradually became suspicious, until he showed anger.

'You mean to say that Blaine opened the vault of the great Salazar Slytherin? That's impossible. If my great ancestor had left a vault, then I would know it. Are you lying to me, Nott?'

Voldemort's grim tone was like a bucket of cold water poured over old Nott's head, causing old Nott, who thought he had done a great deed, to be overwhelmed by fear again.

"I swear to you, my lord, this is what I saw from the goblin's memory!"

Old Nott spoke tremblingly, fearing that he would not have the chance to tell everything, so he quickly revealed everything he knew.

After hearing all this, not only was Lucius confused, even Voldemort narrowed his eyes, full of confusion.

"Brian didn't take any treasure from that vault?"

"According to me. Oh, in the fairy's memory, it was like this. Brian used a bottle of magic potion to calm the magma riot, and then as I just told you, it saw many emeralds flying out of the magma that was about to solidify, forming a strange shape in front of Amosstar. Amosstar tried to destroy it with magic, but failed. In the end, the emeralds and the inexplicable cloud disappeared again, and Brian got nothing--"

Old Nott said cautiously,
"Perhaps Salazar Slytherin did not want to give the Mudbloods a chance to peer into his wealth."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed smaller and smaller, until only a narrow slit remained.
"Anything else, Nott?"

"And more."

Old Nott racked his brains to think,

"Oh, when Brian and the girl he brought back left Gringotts, I was hiding in the alley and eavesdropping. Please forgive me, there were a lot of people in Diagon Alley, and I didn't dare to get too close, but I seemed to hear Brian saying that he would prepare for the Triwizard Tournament after returning to Hogwarts."

"The Triwizard Tournament!"

Voldemort's expression turned slightly cold, and he thought of the embarrassing scene at his resurrection ceremony. However, even though he thought of something, a hint of pride appeared in his scarlet pupils.
"Brian wants to use the Triwizard Tournament to enhance his prestige. Oh, he can do those useless things, but I will focus on more valuable things. Nott, I have other tasks for you."

Looking at the silent old Nott, Voldemort said softly,

"Go find McNeill and Avery and tell them that they must complete my orders to them before the Triwizard Tournament. In return for the resurrection ceremony, I will also give Brian and Dumbledore a surprise. And you, Lucius -"

Malfoy, who was also kneeling on the ground, felt his heart leap into his throat. He wasn't sure whether the information Nott brought back would satisfy the Dark Lord. If not, then the Malfoy family would be doomed.

But the Dark Lord's next words made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"I want you to accompany me to Gringotts. I must see the Malfoy family vault with my own eyes. After that, you go to Hogwarts."

"To Hogwarts?"

Malfoy asked cautiously.

"I can't let the Death Eaters who are still loyal to me in that school leave Hogwarts frequently. Dumbledore will get suspicious. You go see him, Lucius, and ask him to find out what those emeralds that Brian encountered are. Severus told me that he has a closer relationship with Brian than Dumbledore. I think he will find out for the Dark Lord."

(End of this chapter)