Death Eaters Regain Their Freedom

In a quiet corner of a village far from the bustle, the doors and windows of a dilapidated shack were tightly shut. A few wisps of breeze drifted over, silently scattering against the crumbling walls and carrying the chill of early spring indoors through narrow cracks.

"...You don't need to worry about things at home. Take good care of yourself," Lucius said softly, a faint sorrow in his voice.

As a representative figure among the Pure-blood Families, only a handful of wizards in all of Britain—even in the entire wizarding world—were wealthier than him, yet his influence was exceedingly weak.

Over the past few decades, he had donated vast sums every year to preserve the family's standing—or rather, to seek protection and keep the family functioning. The Malfoy family earned money quickly, but it flowed away just as quickly. Tens of thousands of Galleons had gone to powerful figures within the Ministry of Magic, to the unnameable Dark Lord, and once, to the Hogwarts Board of Governors...

Britain was vast, and wizarding footprints spread across the entire world, yet the Malfoy family had never gained true power.

During his imprisonment, Ministry of Magic guards had repeatedly imposed hefty fines under various pretexts. Lucius paid every one of them in full. Some went toward legitimate fines, while the rest ended up in the guards' pockets. It had not been a crippling expense for the Malfoy family, and thanks to those Galleons, his time in prison had been relatively easy.

After being released smoothly last week, the Dark Lord had ordered him to rebuild the Death Eaters according to Ministry of Magic standards and planned to establish a new wizarding government.

He had promised many benefits, none of which could be delivered anytime soon, while also hinting at warnings and threats. Lucius