This time, Voldemort finally raised his chin slightly in surprise.
He knew that Tver had led a team to raid the Death Eaters' headquarters. Or rather, as the leader of the Death Eaters, even if he rarely stayed there, it would have been strange for him not to know about such a major incident.
In fact, although there were not many Death Eaters like Macnair who had hidden their identities, they were essentially placed in various key positions. Their true identities were known only to Voldemort himself, and they specialized in providing him with all kinds of important intelligence.
Even intelligence from within the Death Eaters.
So Voldemort not only had some grasp of the Ministry of Magic's movements, but also knew that it was the Greek wizard named Dusko who had rescued the Death Eaters and brought them to a new base.
What surprised him was that Tver had not forgotten to set a trap for him even in this.
Thinking of his current state, forced to hide here and there, Voldemort's hands clenched tightly into fists in anger.
Fortunately, his loose black robe concealed that moment of loss of composure.
"I know that Dusko. A young Dark Wizard from Greece. He originally planned to build something for himself in Greece, only to find that Fawley happened to go there as well and destroyed his foundation in Greece..."
Voldemort seemed to be explaining the situation to Macnair, yet also seemed to be talking to himself, laying out his information and guesses to help himself think.
Yes, the information on the surface had only told Voldemort that Dusko came from Greece, and that when Dusko left Greece, Tver had also happened to be there.
But that did not stop Voldemort from linking these details together and making a logical deduction.
"And Dusko came to Britain presumably to take revenge on Fawley. That happens to make him useful to me..."
"But I can't simply ignore that group of Death Eaters either. Let Dusko take them and vent for a while. Once he no longer has any value, I'll deal with him..."
"As for the traitor, or rather, the undercover agent..."
Voldemort's face suddenly turned stern, and his sharp gaze fixed on Macnair.
"Do you know who it is?"
Even hidden under his hood, Macnair was frightened by that look, and Voldemort's question left him stumped.
"Er... I... Fawley didn't say. He only told the Aurors that the undercover agent was among the Death Eaters who escaped from prison!"
Hearing this unsurprising answer, Voldemort's expression shifted uncertainly, and he fell into thought again.
But Macnair could not sit still.
It had not been easy for him to come out. He had used a trip to Hogsmeade as an excuse to squeeze out half a day.
Now that it was wartime, if his movements were too strange, his colleagues at the Ministry of Magic could easily become suspicious.
Noticing his subordinate's restlessness, Voldemort's mood darkened another degree.
Damn Fawley. In the past, what subordinate would have dared be so rude in front of him?
But thinking of his own plan, his mood eased slightly.
"Get lost. And remember, don't come looking for me unless there's something important," Voldemort said coldly.
Perhaps sitting there for a while had restored some of his strength, because even his steps as he left were sharper than when he had arrived.
Macnair sensed his master's displeasure. Although his heart pounded in fear for a while, he soon figured it out.
In the past, his position in the Ministry of Magic had meant nothing before the Dark Lord.
But now the situation was different. The Dark Lord's foundation inside the Ministry of Magic had either been won over or destroyed, which made Macnair the most useful chess piece under the Dark Lord.
Otherwise, the Dark Lord would not have fallen so low as to actually appear at his summons.
Macnair immediately grew smug. When he left the Hog's Head, he even waved to the owner, nothing like the stiff and cautious man who had arrived earlier.
However, he did not leave Hogsmeade right away. Instead, he took off his hood and swaggered around the village.
After all, he had used a trip to Hogsmeade as an excuse. He could not have never appeared there at all, could he?
As for why he held his head so high...
He was happy.
As a professional executioner for the Ministry of Magic, Macnair had specially ordered several sharp broadswords this time, along with several identical sets of plain black robes.
After wandering around Hogsmeade for the entire afternoon, Macnair walked toward the increasingly empty road outside the village while counting up his plentiful haul.
But as he walked, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Relying on his not particularly sharp instincts, he quickly moved his right hand toward the wand tied at his waist. But the next second, a Disarming Charm struck him accurately, sending the wand he had not even pulled out flying high from his hand before it landed steadily in a long, fair hand.
Aurors?
No, Death Eaters.
Macnair panicked for a moment, then looked closely and realized that the young man holding his wand was standing beside the Carrow siblings, as well as Death Eater companions who had fought with him during the last war.
This discovery immediately made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"So it's you. I thought it was..."
"What? Your Auror companions?"
Amycus Carrow coldly interrupted him. The wand in his hand did not lower, but remained firmly pointed at Macnair, their former companion.
"No, what do you mean by this?!" Macnair sensed that something was wrong with their attitude.
"We're the ones who should be asking what you mean, Macnair!"
This time, the Carrow siblings' sister, Alecto Carrow, stepped forward unhappily.
"Back then, you lied and claimed you had been under the Imperius Curse to escape the Ministry of Magic's trial. We could understand that."
Of course the Carrow siblings understood, because the two of them had avoided being locked up in Azkaban with similar excuses.
Because of that, the other Death Eaters looked somewhat displeased.
Amycus sensed that the atmosphere was turning wrong and quickly tried to smooth things over for his sister.
"But what about now?" He gestured toward the Death Eaters present. "All of us have firmly stood on the Dark Lord's side!"
Then he pointed at Macnair, who was still standing there dumbfounded.
"And you, Macnair, have the nerve to keep working for our enemies!"
Macnair finally understood what these people had come to do.
Punish a traitor.
But the problem was, he was not a traitor!