How Old Is Uncle This Year?

Just like that superfluous junior.

Under normal circumstances, wasn't the point of giving oneself a codename to replace one's name, so people could address one more easily, conveniently, or neutrally?

What did it mean to pick a codename, then put a spell on it so no one could say it?

Still, although no one could say the codename, nobody had gone back to calling Voldemort by his original name either. They were probably afraid he had cursed that name too.

So everyone simply used vague substitutes like "You-Know-Who," "the Dark Lord," and "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

While feeling speechless, Manus focused on his grandmother's description of his uncle.

Weren't they supposed to be following the principle of not putting all their eggs in one basket? Why did it now sound like his uncle would help Voldemort settle scores with them?

At Manus's question, his grandmother's gaze grew complicated. What she said next proved that Manus had guessed correctly.

Their family had not been carrying out some plan not to put all their eggs in one basket. His uncle had genuinely believed Voldemort's slogans and joined the Death Eaters for the glory of Pure-bloods...

So his grandfather, grandmother, and father had not been out of contact with him for so many years because they were deeply committed to some plan. In a sense, they had truly split into separate branches of the family.

Well, the kind where neither side would have any direct connection with the other until one side was dead. The only reason it had not reached that point yet was because his grandfather and grandmother were still alive.

Huh?

Manus's eyes widened slightly.

No, did people actually believe this kind of thing?

How old was his uncle this year?

If his grandmother had not called the man "your father's elder brother" rather than using the broader term "uncle" for his father's brothers, he really would have suspected that the person being described was still underage.

No, thinking about it carefully, under the rules of a fairy-tale-like world, perhaps this sort of thing about upholding family honor...

What? Voldemort's methods were utterly insane, and he frequently used spells to torture subordinates who failed at their tasks?

What? The Death Eaters had become increasingly radical, and recently some had begun forming groups to attack Muggles and Muggle-born wizards?

Hiss...

Manus's expression became difficult to describe.

From the perspective of a normal cost-benefit analysis, following someone with an unstable mental state and joining an organization with an unstable mental state were both extremely risky things to do.

He had no idea whether this uncle of his was also mentally unstable and found a greater sense of belonging in the Death Eaters, or whether, by the time he realized what was happening, he could no longer turn back and could only keep going down the dark path until he fully blended in.

Of course, there was another possibility. His grandmother had told him about the drawbacks of joining the Death Eaters but had not mentioned the benefits. Perhaps Voldemort simply offered too much.

Not everyone possessed sufficient foresight and unwavering will.

When immediate benefits were great enough, it was hardly surprising for people to do the most insane things.

No one knew what Manus was thinking. They only felt that such descriptions might be too cruel for a seven-year-old child. No matter how precocious and mature he was, he had never truly witnessed life and death.

"Cough, right. Who have we invited today?"

Griffin changed the subject.

His grandfather smoothly picked up the thread:

"Because of that man, we did not invite any families that had completely sided with him. We only invited some families, along with several wizards who have a good relationship with our family."

Wizarding families were not actually populous. As long as bloodlines were involved, even a household with only one or two people left could still be called a family.

Therefore, those mentioned separately afterward were clearly Half-blood or Muggle-born wizards who had not joined any particular "family," whose surnames carried little legacy in the Wizarding World.

Still, since they had been specifically invited, they had clearly achieved considerable success. After all, despite the current unrest, this banquet was still fundamentally about the distribution of benefits.

"Will those lunatics show up uninvited?"

Aivina was worried. The Death Eaters and Voldemort were not reasonable people. A powerful villain was far less threatening than a powerful lunatic.

"That was indeed possible before, but there is basically no need to worry now."

At this point, his grandfather smiled.

"For today, I tried inviting Dumbledore. He wrote back two days ago to tell me that, as Hogwarts's headmaster, he would be delighted to attend the birthday banquet of a future Hogwarts student."

Strictly speaking, their family was not particularly close to Dumbledore. If they had to claim some connection, it could only be said that Dumbledore had taught Griffin and Aivina Defense Against the Dark Arts.

P.S.: During the time of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dumbledore taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, including when Newt Scamander was still studying at Hogwarts.

Inviting Dumbledore on the basis of such a relationship, especially when their intention of seeking protection was so obvious, was rather presumptuous.

Yet Dumbledore had agreed. Perhaps, just as he had said, it was for Manus, who would attend Hogwarts in the future...

At that thought, Griffin frowned slightly.

In truth, it was still too early to decide whether his son should attend Hogwarts, or even whether they should remain in Britain.

Earlier, he had briefly discussed the matter with his parents while his wife and son were still looking at paintings by the staircase.

Although Dumbledore was hailed as the greatest wizard, and they had no doubt that Voldemort had not yet stepped fully into the open to attempt to seize control of the Wizarding World because he feared Dumbledore—

Once he did so, the Death Eaters would shift from attackers holding the initiative to defenders on the back foot. Voldemort would never do that until he was confident he could deal with Dumbledore.

But Dumbledore was the powerful one, and Dumbledore was the one Voldemort feared. What did that have to do with them?

Dumbledore's accomplishments were recorded on Chocolate Frog cards, the first of which was that he had defeated Grindelwald, the most dangerous Dark wizard in the world at the time.

But the problem was that before then, he had remained at Hogwarts and watched Grindelwald wreak havoc across the world for decades!

No one knew what he had been thinking at the time or why he had done so, but it was indeed a fact.

Dumbledore was powerful. He defeated Grindelwald. The surviving wizards were grateful to him and sang his praises, and everyone firmly believed that he could defeat Voldemort as well.

That was why the Wizarding World still maintained relative peace.

But what if they did not become the people who survived in the end and continued singing his praises, but instead became those who died while Voldemort ran rampant?

At present, Voldemort's influence was limited to Britain. If they left Britain, they could escape the threat posed by him and his band of lunatics.

But abandoning everything they had built in Britain to travel to a foreign land, starting from zero or even below zero, would cost too much. In the end, their decision was to wait and see.