The Death Eaters' Gathering
Voldemort inserted his unusually long fingers into a deep pocket and pulled out a wand.
That was his yew phoenix Phoenix Tail Feather wand, his destined partner in life. He remembered that the old man who sold him the wand had said that Yew Wand were one of the rarest types, and had a particularly terrifying reputation for dueling and casting evil spells. Therefore, its ideal partner would never be an ordinary person, but either a great hero or a demon king.
At that moment, his inherent unwillingness to be ordinary was instantly ignited; he was determined to make the whole world remember his name!
The wand was lost at the Potter family when he went to Godric's Hollow to assassinate Harry Potter, who was only one year old at the time. Before his body turned to dust, he managed to hide the wand in a corner of the Potter family using special methods, so that even the Auror who came to check couldn't find it. In the end, it was Peter Pettigrew, with the help of his friends, retrieved the wand for him. He should give Peter Pettigrew credit for this.
He gently stroked his wand once more, then raised it, pointed it at Peter Pettigrew, lifted him off the ground, and threw him onto the tombstone where Harry had been tied. Peter Pettigrew fell beside the tombstone, collapsed there, and wept.
Voldemort turned his crimson eyes to Harry and let out a cold, sharp laugh.
The robe covering Peter Pettigrew arm was soaked in blood. "Master..." Peter Pettigrew choked out, "Master... you promised... you promised..."
"Stretch out your arm," Voldemort said lazily.
He stretched out his bloodied, severed arm, but Voldemort sneered again, "Not this one, Wormtail."
"Master, please... please..."
Voldemort bent down and lifted Peter Pettigrew's left arm. The arm wasn't covered in blood, but the area below the wrist was gone—the price Peter Pettigrew had paid for the sacrificial Dark Arts he used to escape Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Lupin's pursuit. Poor Peter Pettigrew, he now had neither hand.
Voldemort ignored Peter Pettigrew's miserable state; he had more important things to do.
Unlike the character in the original story, during the tragic period when he lost his magic, his arrogance and conceit had long been worn away.
Back in the previous year, he came into contact with a seemingly very powerful dark wizard whose origins were unknown. He had never heard of such a person in the Europe wizarding world before. The wizard coerced him into handing over Nagini, the vessel he had originally planned to use as his next Horcrux.
Then, after Barty Crouch Jr.. Hogwarts for him, his plan reportedly didn't go very smoothly. Several ancient, hidden families emerged, and the second son of the House of Malfoy also displayed astonishing strength and performance. The difficulty of getting Harry Potter, a boy with no background or foundation, to win the Goblet of Goblet of Fire first, as originally planned, was considerable.
At this time, a group of dark wizards he had met during his travels in Europe in his youth approached him, trying to help him solve this problem. As shrewd as Voldemort was, he naturally could see that this organization had actually been in contact with Peter Pettigrew before. They found him by tracking Peter Pettigrew. Damn it, if he hadn't needed someone to take care of him at the time, he would have sent Peter Pettigrew to see Merlin long ago.
Fortunately, by sheer chance, this group seemed to have no ill intentions towards him. On the contrary, they offered to help him obtain Harry's blood to achieve resurrection. Voldemort naturally understood the principle of not accepting something for nothing, but he was eager to regain his strength. Even if this group had some ulterior motives, he would deal with them after he regained his strength.
However, for these very reasons, the resurrected Voldemort was more cautious and more reserved than his counterpart in the original stories. He knew that times had changed.
On the stage of this world, it's no longer just him and Dumbledore—
Those reclusive Pure-blood families, the House of Malfoy that suddenly broke their tradition of single-line inheritance and produced a prodigy, and this secretive and low-profile mysterious dark wizard organization, all suddenly emerged. Behind these forces, there are likely one old monster after another who can threaten you.
He was no longer the most powerful Dark Lord who could dominate the world, be arrogant and do whatever he pleased.
Therefore, the most urgent thing he needs right now is to rebuild his power as soon as possible!
Peter Pettigrew's sleeve was roughly rolled up to his elbow by Voldemort, revealing something on his skin—a bright red tattoo—a skull with a snake emerging from its mouth, the Dark Mark.
He pressed his long, pale index finger on Peter Pettigrew's arm.
Harry screamed as the scar on his forehead throbbed with pain once more.
Peter Pettigrew let out another wail, as if his arm were being burned by flames. Voldemort removed his finger from Peter Pettigrew's mark, which turned from bright red to jet black.
Voldemort's face revealed a cruel, triumphant expression. He straightened up, tossed his head back, and surveyed the dark graveyard.
"After sensing it, how many people have the courage to return?" he murmured, his glowing red eyes fixed on the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough not to come?"
Suddenly, the air was filled with the rustling of cloaks. Among the graves, behind the fir trees, in every shadowy spot, wizards appeared in Apparition.
They were all wearing hoods and their faces were covered. They came over one by one... very slowly and cautiously, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
Voldemort stood there silently, waiting. A Death Eaters knelt down, crawled to Voldemort, and kissed the hem of his black robes.
The Death Eaters behind him did the same, each one crawling on their knees to Voldemort's side, kissing his robes, then stepping aside, standing up, and silently forming a circle around Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Voldemort, and Wormtail, who was lying on the ground, sobbing and twitching.
But some gaps remained in the circle, as if waiting for others to join. However, Voldemort no longer seemed to expect anyone to come. He looked around at the hooded faces, and although there was no wind, there seemed to be a slight rustling sound passing through the circle, as if the circle had shivered.
Voldemort was furious, truly furious.
He never expected so few people to come!
He had anticipated that some of Karkaroff's followers would no longer dare to appear before him, but he always thought that under the threat of the Dark Mark, he could easily track these people down, so how could they dare to truly betray him? He had originally estimated that at least thirty people would respond to his call, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even gather ten people now!
"Very good!" he said softly.
"It seems that during the time I lost my power, many people have harbored inappropriate thoughts and decided to leave our family..." he said menacingly. "It seems I need to let them know the consequences of betraying me..."
"Avery!"
One of the men in the circle suddenly collapsed to the ground, prostrate at Voldemort's feet, trembling from head to toe.
"Master!" he cried, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us!"
"I know the Lestrange, Dolohov, Mulciber, Rookwood, and Travers are all in Azkaban. They are loyal, preferring to go to Azkaban than betray me... When Azkaban falls, they will receive a reward they can never dream of," Voldemort said coldly. "But what about the others who aren't here!"
"Master," Avery said carefully, "Ever since the House of Malfoy produced a second son with extraordinary talent, Lucius has drifted further and further away from us, as have several families that are dependent on him, such as Goyle and Crabbe..."
"Lucius..." Voldemort's voice was so cold it almost froze the air, "Dare to betray me... then—"
"Then, what about Nott? What about the Carrow siblings? What about Rowle?"
"Master," another tall, thin Death Eaters stepped forward, "Dolfin was later arrested by the Auror for his involvement in Knockturn Alley's illegal activities and was sent to Azkaban. The entire House of Rowle was also inexplicably wiped out."
"Oh, is that so?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "Yaxley, do you know what to write? Explain yourself clearly."
"Yes, Master. Rowle isn't the only one whose clan was wiped out," Yaxley said. "Even earlier, the House of Lestrange was attacked and exterminated by a pack of Werewolf."
"Werewolf?" Voldemort's pupils contracted slightly. "That's not..."
"Yes, Werewolf. Those Werewolf who've always been on good terms with the House of Rowle, and the House of Rowle was responsible for negotiating with them," Yaxley confirmed again. He continued, "Everyone blamed Dolfin for this, for not handling it well. Now, looking back, the whole thing seems rather strange..."