"So, after that speech, those Death Eaters obediently started rebuilding Azkaban?"
Tver looked strangely at the smug Marvolio sitting across from him.
"Please, I used to give speeches to boost morale all the time, all right? It's just that later, once I became too powerful, I figured threats alone were enough to drive my subordinates, so naturally I got lazy."
"And besides," Marvolio said, knocking angrily on the table, "if you hadn't scared them half to death that day, would I have needed to do all that?"
Forget the Death Eaters. Even he had been frightened by Tver's attack. If he had not sensed that the flames were not deliberately targeting him, he might have thought Tver had been possessed by Voldemort.
However, Marvolio's anger posed no threat to Tver. In fact, Tver was quite satisfied with the effect of that move.
"When people encounter danger, their hearts start racing. If someone steps forward to help them at that moment, they can easily mistake that racing heart for romantic attachment. That's called the suspension bridge effect."
He crossed his legs and raised a finger at Marvolio, looking so smug that even a blind man could see it.
"In other words, I was helping those Death Eaters fall in love with you."
"I really ought to thank you," Marvolio said, rolling his eyes irritably.
Still, that did explain why those Death Eaters had developed a sense of trust in him so quickly.
In their eyes, he had risked his life to save them.
"But those Death Eaters have only had their spirits lifted. They're planning to treat that place as a secret base." Marvolio leaned forward until he was close to Tver. "If we want them to truly submit and transfer their awe of Voldemort onto me, the best way is to let them successfully strike back against the Ministry of Magic under my wise leadership."
"Don't even think about it. I'm not letting a single Ministry Auror get hurt just to control this bunch of Death Eaters," Tver refused without hesitation.
There were already not many Aurors to begin with, and he was still counting on them to help maintain the operation of the Joint Operations Office. How could he possibly let them be lost so easily?
Marvolio naturally knew that. His target was never the Aurors.
"It doesn't have to be Aurors," he said with a chuckle. "Like with the Carrow siblings. Have them break someone out of prison, destroy one or two valuable targets, a police station or something. That would satisfy them well enough."
Now that these Death Eaters had broken free from the restraints of headquarters and Voldemort, they were itching to cause trouble. But they had also been frightened by Tver and the Hunt Project, so they did not dare act rashly.
To put it simply, they wanted to bully the weak and fear the strong, but they neither knew where the weak targets were, nor wanted to be noticed by the strong.
So as long as Marvolio led them in one counterattack, even if the target was so small it was practically child's play, the image of "Dusko" could, to some extent, surpass Voldemort, who had left them shut up in that house.
"Oh?" Tver raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "If you put it that way, there really are a few targets they could attack..."
...
There was a traitor!
Walden Macnair hurried down the main road of Hogsmeade. Dressed in a black robe, he stood completely out of place among the lively crowds enjoying themselves around him.
But sunk in panic, he did not notice at all.
As one of the Dark Lord's loyal subordinates, he was one of the few Death Eaters hiding inside the British Ministry of Magic as an undercover agent.
Although the Hunt Project was in full swing, and the Death Eaters' situation seemed terrible...
All right, in reality, it was even worse than it looked.
But that did not matter. The Dark Lord was nothing like what certain fools claimed. He was not powerless to resist.
As far as Macnair knew, taking advantage of the manpower shortage caused by the Hunt Project, the Dark Lord had arranged for no fewer than seven Death Eaters to take part in the Ministry's large-scale recruitment.
And he, thanks to his especially outstanding experience hiding inside the Ministry, had the honor of becoming the Dark Lord's leader among the Ministry infiltrators.
It was precisely because of his steady flow of intelligence that the Dark Lord had been able to...
Do absolutely nothing.
Thinking of that awkward fact, Macnair's face beneath the hood could not help turning red.
But no matter what, this time he had important intelligence.
Gathering himself, he checked his surroundings. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he slipped into a filthy pub.
The Hog's Head.
Whether because it was daytime or simply because no one wanted to come here, there were not many customers in the pub. That made Macnair's strange behavior especially conspicuous in the eyes of the pub owner, Aberforth.
"You there, Dark Wizard. If you're not here to murder someone or blow up my pub, then sit down already!" Aberforth said irritably.
There were plenty of hooded people in the Hog's Head, but someone acting this furtive would have looked suspicious even to a blunt fellow like Hagrid.
Macnair lowered his head in embarrassment, found an empty table in the corner, and sat down, not daring to make any more movements.
Fortunately, before long, another hooded figure saved him from his embarrassment.
This person was thin and taller than Macnair. His manner was even more composed, as if he had not come for a secret meeting, but was instead a lofty emperor inspecting his territory.
Although Macnair could not see his face, the sight of that figure immediately lifted his spirits. Before he could speak, the man's cold gaze and steps came straight toward him, forcing him to swallow the greeting he had been about to make.
"Master."
"Speak. What has happened that you need to meet me in person?"
Voldemort lightly pulled out a chair and sat down. He made no unnecessary movements, every action so precise it was as if he were carrying out some sacred mission.
Voldemort's movements were gentle, yet carried an unusually harmonious firmness. Macnair stared blankly for a moment, only reacting when Voldemort raised his head again.
"Master, there is a traitor!" he said in some panic.
"There have always been traitors among us," Voldemort replied without concern.
"No," Macnair said anxiously. "Master, the previous attack on headquarters by the Aurors was actually premeditated!"
"They deliberately let some of our companions break out of prison and bring us news of the attack, then used the opportunity to plant Ministry spies among us!"
"I suspect..."
Macnair carefully swept his gaze around, and his voice lowered considerably.
"That Dusko, and those Death Eaters who escaped back with him. There is definitely a Ministry spy among them!"