The Dark Lord's Ambition, Shoulder to Shoulder with Merlin

"You still love meddling as much as ever!" Voldemort chuckled meaningfully. "Do you think I won't lay a hand on you, or do you think you can still turn the tide this time?"

"Uh... I just simply felt that someone's screams would affect my mood and give me nightmares at night," Aaron said sheepishly. "Besides, what I said before was purely a misunderstanding."

"I don't think that was a misunderstanding." Voldemort gritted his teeth. "Three years ago, you prevented me from getting the Philosopher's Stone, otherwise I would have been resurrected long ago."

"That was Dumbledore's scheme; I just happened to be there."

"You don't really think he knows nothing, do you? Maybe Quirrell's strange behavior was never hidden from him from the beginning." Aaron said, talking nonsense with a straight face.

That's just how it is; whether others believe it or not, he believed it anyway.

"What about two years ago? You destroyed my memories, that's an undeniable fact."

"Hmm..." Aaron hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat speechlessly, "I won't stop you from resurrecting me, just be sneaky, no, quietly resurrect me so that no one will know."

But you didn't release the Basilisk, so Hogwarts is still important to me. I can't just stand by and watch it close down!

If I can't go to school, I'll have to go back and inherit the family business that Gaius has accumulated over thousands of years.

I'm only a teenager. I don't want to experience the kind of life where I could just lie around and sponge off my parents, yet I have to worry about all sorts of family-related troubles and annoyances.

Everyone:...

How did this strong sense of Versailles come about?

"Hahaha..." Voldemort laughed, his cold eyes glowing red. "I can pretend nothing happened."

"But now you owe me an answer: are you willing to serve the Dark Lord?"

Aaron pretended to think for a while, then shook his head regretfully, "I don't want to."

Voldemort frowned slightly. "The conditions I promised you before will not change. Your submission is only temporary. Once you have completed your mission as the Dark Lord and eliminated the Muggle and Mudblood, you will be the next ruler of the Magic World."

Everyone else was stunned when they heard this.

They didn't doubt the truth of these words; the Dark Lord's promise couldn't be false, but they just couldn't believe it.

Aaron paused for a moment, then scoffed, "I really don't understand why you value me so much."

"I have explained before that you are a true Slytherin, with noble Warlock blood, no less talented than I am, and possessing outstanding leadership qualities."

"And after I change the Magic World, I need a qualified successor who can bring peace to the Magic World."

"Tsk! I'm really flattered!"

But you can always find someone else; there's no need to put all your eggs in one basket!

"So the reason I chose you, besides the conditions mentioned above, is that you are not interested in power."

"Oh!" Aaron drawled, suddenly realizing, "You chose not the heir, but the representative, a special representative who holds management power."

"You could say that," Voldemort said, neither confirming nor denying. "The more you explore magic, the more you realize how insignificant you are. Dumbledore and I have been exploring the path ahead. He's afraid to go, and I also have some reservations."

But if the overall environment stabilizes, I will have enough time to go further, reach the level of the Founders of Hogwarts, and even surpass them is not impossible.

"Hiss... you really have ambitions that are too high." Aaron was shocked and nodded secretly. "I have to admit you have good judgment. If I help you, it can indeed achieve twice the result with half the effort."

He also understood Voldemort's ambition; ruling the Magic World was only the first step, and his ultimate goal was to become the legendary God of Magic.

This is difficult, extremely difficult.

However, to be fair, Voldemort's chances of succeeding were still high, even higher than Dumbledore's.

He is currently at the peak of the Grand Archmage level, only half a step away from the Saint Realm.

But if he could achieve his goal of killing Muggle and Mudblood, then his mindset would be without any flaws.

Once the turmoil in the Magic World stabilizes, he will transform from an executioner into a reformer.

At that time, no one will be his enemy anymore. He can slowly find a way to make up for the defects in his Soul Stone and break through the bottleneck of the Holy Magus.

Whether he can become a god afterward depends on fate.

However, a Warlock who has walked the path to immortality longer than anyone else has no shortage of time.

Voldemort's path was rather twisted, but it was indeed the way to his destination.

"Amazing, truly amazing." Aaron clapped his hands. "I always thought you were out of your mind, but now it seems I was narrow-minded."

Come to think of it, even a madman couldn't have become the Dark Lord.

No wonder your organization is called the Death Eater. Once you reach the final step, conquering death won't be just empty talk.

Voldemort's lips curled into a smile. "You've got a white eye?"

Since the beginning of the magical age, many people have explored this path, Four Founders of Hogwarts: Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and me, and even you will be one of them in the future.

Everyone has their own perspective; I simply chose what I wanted to choose.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"This is a conversation between two Slytherin. Are you, a Gryffindor, sure you want to know?" Aaron said sarcastically.

Harry hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.

He didn't know if he would live past the end of the world, but even if he died, he wanted to know why!

"It can only be said that Voldemort truly deserves to be called Slytherin Warlock; his ambition is comparable to that of his ancestors."

"Dominating the Magic World is just the first step in realizing my ambition. As for the ultimate goal..." Aaron paused slightly, "... I guess it's to stand shoulder to shoulder with Merlin."

The four Champion looked at each other, completely bewildered.

But the Death Eater whispered amongst themselves. Some of the family-trained Warlock seemed to have guessed something; some had fanaticism on their faces, while others trembled all over.

"Master, great master." A Death Eater immediately knelt before Voldemort, kissing his Warlock robes. "To be Death Eater is my greatest Glory."

Once the first one was there, others followed suit.

No matter what you're thinking, you mustn't show the slightest sign of anything unusual at this moment.

"What's wrong with them?" Phoebe asked, puzzled. "They seem very different from before."

"He must have accepted his identity from the bottom of his heart!" Aaron said meaningfully. "Immortality, although the boss's promise was exaggerated, it was not false."

Cedric suddenly realized something, and his pupils trembled violently.

"Could it be that he wants to...? That's impossible. That's just a legend. Even the Four Founders of the academy haven't reached that level."

"Which step?" Krum asked somewhat uneasily.

"God," Cedric said through gritted teeth, "But that's absolutely impossible."

"It is indeed possible," Aaron said calmly. "Besides his exceptional magical talent, he has another major advantage—he can survive."

Just as he said, he had walked a long way on the road, and even the Killing Curse couldn't kill him.

With exceptional talent and a long period of time, he always manages to find opportunities.

The power of gods far surpasses that of ordinary people; to be resurrected from the dead and to bestow immortality upon others is perhaps not so difficult.

Cedric opened his mouth, but was speechless.

"Now that you understand the Dark Lord's will, are you willing to help me?" Voldemort said calmly, this time he was absolutely certain.

"I refuse."

"If you agree, then..." Voldemort was smug for a moment, then his face instantly darkened. "Did I hear that right?"

"You heard me right, I refuse," Aaron emphasized again.

"Reason!" Voldemort roared furiously. "What right do you have to refuse? No one can refuse this offer."

"There are many reasons, and they are also very simple." Aaron said, counting on his fingers, "First of all, if I agree to serve you, the first thing the Gaius family should do is not to follow me down this path to the bitter end, but to expel Aaron Gaius from the family tree."

My parents, elders, siblings, uncles and aunts have all treated me very well, and I can't bear to leave them to pursue a dream that is out of reach.

Secondly, the path you've chosen is paved with the bones of countless Muggle and Muggle-born Warlock; helping you would make my conscience uneasy.

"Great undertakings require sacrifices," Voldemort said indifferently. "To sacrifice the life of an ant to become a god is definitely a worthwhile deal."

I understand the principle that "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers," but the problem is that the sacrifices you need to make are far too great, hundreds of thousands of times greater.

"Once you take that step, the world's population will plummet to less than one-tenth, even less than one-thousandth," Aaron said, somewhat alarmed. "Countless people will try to stop you during this process. First, you'll have to move Dumbledore, that mountain, which is no ordinary task."

"Dumbledore is old, and I will kill him sooner or later."

"Furthermore, I used to rule a part of the Magic World. If I can consolidate the power of Warlock, killing Muggle will be as easy as crushing ants."

"Madmen, you, no, you are all madmen." Harry Potter said, looking at Voldemort and his Death Eater, unable to believe that human life was so worthless in their eyes.

"You can't call them crazy, you can only say that everyone has their own ambitions, although they are indeed quite insane," Aaron said with a forced smile, then looked at Voldemort with a serious expression. "As for the last reason, it's a bit harsh. It's not that I don't think you deserve it, it's just that I think you're not worthy."

Voldemort was so enraged he laughed. "I am a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, the most powerful Dark Lord of my time, and you say I am not worthy?"

"That's true," Aaron nodded. "No one is worth following."

Perhaps after you successfully unify the Magic World, Gaius will add icing on the cake by helping you maintain order, since in a sense that is one of the duties of the Hidden Family.

But I won't help you until then. However, you can rest assured that the Hidden Cloud Family will not stand against you. For thousands of years, we have never actively participated in conflicts between Warlock.