A Bleak Future for the Death Eaters

Abraxas's distraction was only momentary, and Lucius didn't notice.

"Perhaps Manus has another organization under his command, or perhaps there's a special group within the Wizard Sage Party. On the surface, there's only the Wizard Sage Party, which should be enough to deal with Dumbledore and the You-Know-Who."

"Even if the Wizard Sage Party had the power, Dumbledore couldn't take action against them unless they actively showed any intention to seize power. Dumbledore's own men wouldn't support him attacking the Wizard Sage Party, who hadn't done anything, and the rest of the Wizard Sage Party wouldn't believe his claims that he was only targeting a small group."

Just as Dumbledore wouldn't believe the claim that "the Wizard Sage Party's accumulation of power wasn't really for sitting on the sidelines and watching the two sides fight until they were both exhausted before coming out to take them all."

"As for the Death Eaters... the Death Eaters only have one will —You-Know-Who— that determines their actions, and You-Know-Who is much easier to fool than you think, because he doesn't care at all about being fooled."

Speaking of the Dark Lord above him, Abraxas's tone was full of helplessness:

He was very confident in his own power and couldn't possibly feel that Manus and the Wizard Sage Party posed a threat to him. As long as Manus didn't directly join forces with Dumbledore against him, he wouldn't care what Manus chose—

In Voldemort's mind, once he beat Dumbledore, all the mess Manus had made would be his, and if he lost... he couldn't possibly lose!

In this situation, Voldemort might even present a facade of great magnanimity, when in reality he is making numerous blunders and acting arrogantly.

To Abraxas's relief, they were no longer bound to Voldemort.

Of course, Death Eaters aren't a place you can come and go as you please.

Lucius had only avoided being officially branded with the Dark Mark because of his recent marriage, and joining the Wizard Sage Party wouldn't hinder him. Abraxas was still with the Death Eaters, the Malfoy family was still providing resources, and Voldemort wouldn't pay much attention to Lucius's affairs.

Conversely, with Abraxas among the Death Eaters, Lucius, no matter how hard he tries with the Wizard Sage Party, is unlikely to make any real progress and won't even gain their trust.

There's nothing we can do about it. If it's two branches of the same family, it's a bit easier to handle, but when a father and son from the same family are in two different organizations, they inevitably interfere with each other.

The fact that Voldemort is now merely hindering one side from the other is already an extremely abnormal outcome.

Now that the decision has been made to have the Malfoy family abandon Voldemort's side and choose Manus, then it's time to make a clean break...

Abraxas had a few thoughts flashing through his mind as he looked at Lucius:

"You did a good job. Manus is the core. As for that other organization or group, don't force it. Being too deliberate will only bring additional risks. Maintaining the status quo is the best outcome."

Tying Voldemort to the death is a gentle but painful process, while switching allegiance to Dumbledore is a direct and drastic one. As long as Manus doesn't intend to hurt the Malfoy family too much, whether Lucius enters the inner circle is completely irrelevant.

The Malfoy family made the wrong choice before; maintaining the status quo is the best outcome.

Ultimately, the Malfoy family's way of life is to seek more benefits while ensuring their own safety and survival. Seeking high positions or even personally leading changes has never been the core pursuit of the Malfoy family.

Stirring up trouble is too risky; you can only talk about making a lot or a little money if you're alive.

And this disastrous investment by Abraxas... who could have imagined that Voldemort, under the banner of Pure-blood Supremacy, was plotting to seize control of the Britain Wizarding World?

At first, Abraxas thought he was just going to inherit the Gaunt family and become a rising star in the Pure-blood wizard world based on his status and talent, since that's what everyone has been doing for years.

More importantly, Voldemort wanted to rule the Britain Wizarding World, but he couldn't defeat Dumbledore!

Abraxas shook his head, looked at Lucius, and said meaningfully:

"From now on, the Malfoy family ship will be under your command."

Lucius didn't think much of it; his father would never switch sides with him to join the Wizard Sage Party, and the Malfoy family's focus would definitely shift to his side in the future.

Don't worry, Father.

"The Malfoy family's bet... just ignore it."

In contrast to the Malfoy family's cautious approach, Manus returned home and immediately resumed his daily research.

Once Manus determined that there were no other malicious intentions involved, and that the Malfoy family's decision to jump ship after realizing Voldemort and the Death Eaters had no future, Manus lost interest in investigating further.

While it might be said to be completely worthless, the Malfoy family might possess some valuable inherited knowledge, but it's not to the point that Manus would specifically design something for it.

Just treat them as two normal people who joined Wizard Sage Party.

This is the first time since Dumbledore that someone from outside the school has joined the Wizard Sage Party, even though Lucius and Narcissa have only graduated not long ago.

In the recently concluded school year, a small number of Manus's Wizard Sage Party members also graduated and left Hogwarts.

Manus has not yet come up with a separate standard on how to deal with this group of people.

Since the daily affairs of the Wizard Sage Party rely on magic, there is no need to communicate directly with Manus. Currently, everything is proceeding as usual, and no one has directly withdrawn from the Wizard Sage Party.

Perhaps they felt it would be a waste to quit before using all their credits?

Manus has no immediate plans to design a separate system for them after graduation. He himself still has three years until graduation, and it would be too early to officially expand Hogwarts' influence.

Let the influence of the Wizard Sage Party expand naturally first; there's no need to invest special effort in it. Whatever gains are gains.

For the next few days, Manus went out once a day, doing only one thing each time, and then returned home.

The first thing he did was order a batch of materials from Rare Birds and Exotic Beasts Magical Creature. Originally, he only planned to order materials from North America, but since it wasn't about importing Magical Creature, the selection of materials from Rare Birds and Exotic Beasts was surprisingly extensive.

"Our network for trading Rare Birds and Exotic Beasts spans every continent and country in the world; wherever there is a Ministry of Ministry of Magic, there is our procurement network."

The shop assistant proudly gave the introduction, looking quite pleased with himself.

"For Magical Creature materials from the same region, the higher the quantity purchased, the more affordable the price, as additional shipping costs will not be incurred. Furthermore, orders are non-refundable unless the seller is responsible for the return; I've informed you of this beforehand, so please choose carefully."