At Hogwarts, Umbridge was delighted with the "important intelligence" she had obtained. All she needed was evidence. Then, on the night of the next full moon, she could catch Lupin, drive him out in one stroke, and damage Dumbledore's reputation in the process.
Surely Minister Fudge would trust her even more after that, and another promotion would be all but guaranteed.
Inside a large, gloomy conference room at Malfoy Manor.
Lucius knelt on one knee, reporting to Voldemort, who sat upright on a bench.
"The Greengrass family has sent you..."
"Half the staff in the Department of Magical Transportation have already joined us..."
A quarter of an hour later, the report ended. The expression on Voldemort's noseless face remained unchanged as he asked, "Have the arrangements for the operation been made?"
"They're still being made. We should be ready to act in early December." Lucius swayed a little—his knee was starting to hurt.
"Hmm." Voldemort gave a noncommittal grunt. "Let this operation serve as the announcement of my return."
Even if the current Minister for Magic was a fool, he doubted the man would maintain his present attitude after the December operation.
By then, Fudge would surely stand alongside Dumbledore, putting considerable pressure on him.
Fortunately, he had already arranged for Snape and Will to act as his spies.
"Oh, and have Will take part in the operation. More experience won't hurt him. He doesn't look like a Dark Wizard, after all."
"Yes." Lucius nodded hastily—but he had his doubts. Did Will really not seem like a Dark Wizard?
What decent wizard experiments on Dark Wizards every day?
In the Hogwarts laboratory, Will finished examining the last test subject and immediately headed to the Headmaster's Office.
"Professor, I've confirmed how long it takes to recover from damage to