Chapter 239 Four Dark Lords
"Gellert, long time no see."
Nurmengard, within the highest cell.
Dumbledore slowly opened the cell door and saw the old man with shaggy hair and a thin body in the dark and cramped room.
It seemed that he had not been in contact with the outside world for too long, and the old man's reaction was a little slow. It took him a long time to move, raised his head, and looked at the figure in the backlight.
"Ho--"
There was a sound of airflow in his throat, and it took a long time before he uttered a word.
"Albus—"
"It's been a long time. You haven't been here for a long time."
"You don't look in good condition." Dumbledore walked forward slowly, "Is the wind in Nurmengard too strong?"
"Oh - cough cough -" the old man tried to laugh, but was quickly interrupted by his own cough. He breathed for a while like a bellows before saying: "You know, I live a bit high."
He studied Dumbledore.
"Albus, you look great."
Dumbledore raised his blackened hand: "I don't think so."
"No Albus." The old man said: "Maybe your body is going to die, but after so many years, I see the same eyes again as before."
"Godric's Hollow."
The old man said slowly: "We were still very young at that time and fantasized about overturning the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Do you still remember the program you created for me?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment and said, "For the greater good."
"Few people know that this sentence came from Dumbledore, don't they?" The old man stood up. He looked very weak. In the dim light, his eyes were cloudy and his body was stooped.
"What made you regain your previous mentality, or what made you think of my old friend?"
The old man's tone became lighter, even with a hint of ridicule: "I believe it will never be because of something as boring as death."
"Indeed not." Dumbledore sighed slightly: "We are all old, so old that we should have entered the age of death long ago."
"I'm waiting for you to die first." The old man said.
"I will."
Dumbledore changed the topic to the topic: "I have some questions that I need your help with, Gellert. I believe that you are the most suitable person in the world to answer these questions."
"It seems it's not because of such a trivial matter as your student named Tom." The old man slowly walked to the window, looked at the bright world outside the window, and murmured:
"Albus, not long ago, I saw some pictures of the future."
"I saw my death. Your students broke into Nurmengard, asked me for the whereabouts of the Elder Wand, and then killed me."
"So did you tell him?" Dumbledore asked, following the other person's topic.
"Of course, without hesitation." The old man looked at Dumbledore.
The two suddenly looked at each other and smiled.
"Actually, after that, I saw a completely different picture."
The old man continued: "I saw that I was standing on British soil, and I saw incredible dragons spreading their wings in the sky -"
"Albus, the future has been changed."
"So I've been waiting, and I know you're here to take me out, but I'm curious, why?"
He stared into Dumbledore's eyes.
"Why did you change your mind after so many years and even plan to use me, a person who in your opinion has brought great disaster to the magic world?"
"And how do you convince me to leave here."
Dumbledore was silent.
Of course he knew that the old man in front of him had never been imprisoned by this tower, nor by wizards. He had countless ways to leave here, but for decades, he had never stepped out of Nurmengard.
Both men knew why.
"Because a person, Gellert, cannot, perhaps cannot be called a human being."
"I'm not sure whether I should have stopped him or not."
The old man looked surprised.
"I thought that apart from that incident, nothing could affect your decision." He said, "When you stopped me, you weren't so entangled. This made me curious."
"He also has a program." Dumbledore said slowly: "For a more brilliant civilization."
".A more brilliant civilization?" The old man straightened up slightly.
"So, what is he going to do?"
Malfoy Manor.
Umbridge stood in front of the tall entrance hall of the manor, trying to look proud and fearless.
But her fingers behind her back were trembling slightly.
This was not the first time she had come to this manor, but obviously this time, the atmosphere was a little different. The entire manor was shrouded in a cold and dark atmosphere. Even though it was still daytime, it made people feel chilly in their hearts.
All this may be related to the death of Lucius Malfoy, but the bigger reason may be because of the new owner of this manor.
Umbridge's task is to deliver a message to the new master.
She was extremely frightened, but could not refuse, because she was sure that she could not escape from the hands of a fortune teller, and even more sure that if she messed up, the other party would never let her go.
Before she could wait too long, Mrs. Malfoy came forward. Like Lucius, she was pale, with dark circles under her eyes, and looked haggard.
"I wonder what happened to Deputy Minister Umbridge?" She didn't act too polite. The blood and status of the Malfoy family meant that members of the family didn't need to be overly flattering even when facing the Minister of Magic.
"Send a message." Umbridge raised her chin and said in a sharp voice, "Send a message to the owner of this house."
"I thought this kind of work was usually left to owls." Mrs. Malfoy stretched out her hand: "Who gave me the letter?"
"It's not for you." Umbridge emphasized: "It's for the current owner of this house. Hand it over to him."
Mrs. Malfoy's head shot up and she stared at Umbridge in disbelief.
She quietly touched the back of her waist and said, "I'm afraid Professor Umbridge was so busy that she forgot that my husband, Lucius Malfoy, had unfortunately died at the hands of a magician."
"You know who I'm talking about." Umbridge said: "Lucius' master -"
"Everything is petrified!"
Before she could finish her words, a magical light hit her directly, causing her to freeze in place.
Several figures came out of the darkness. They held wands and pointed at Umbridge. One of them said coldly: "How do you know where the master is? Who ordered you to come?"
"Dumbledore?"
"No!" Umbridge said quickly: "How could I be with Dumbledore? I am Professor Tang, the divination professor at Hogwarts. He has a letter that I need to hand over to the Dark Lord."
"Professor of Divination Class" a Death Eater sneered: "How could you obey the orders of a professor? Do you think I don't know you?"
"Kill her and search her body!"
Umbridge turned pale with fright. She was about to argue when she suddenly saw the Death Eaters facing behind her and lowering their heads respectfully.
"Owner."
Umbridge wanted to turn around, but she was under a spell and couldn't move. She listened to the figure behind her, but there were no steps. Only the extremely cold and evil aura pierced her back, making her hair stand on end.
"The prophet taught in divination class"
There was a snake-like sound behind her, and Umbridge saw a pale, dead-like hand put on her shoulder.
"Give me the letter."
She suddenly felt that her body could finally move. She softened, then reflexively took a few steps forward and turned back.
Finally, she saw what the Dark Lord looked like.
She didn't know how to describe the distorted face, but she realized that she had made another mistake. Even at the risk of disobeying Professor Tang, she should not have come here. How could she be stupid enough to stand in front of everyone? In front of people whose names I dare not mention?
Is it because of the only luck in his heart that he thinks it is impossible for the mysterious man to be resurrected?
But Umbridge had no way out, and she tremblingly took out a letter from her arms.
Voldemort did not answer, but said: "Open it and read it out."
"I shouldn't have read the contents of the letter." Umbridge realized this instinctively.
A letter sent to the Dark Lord by a dark wizard hiding in Hogwarts must contain a huge conspiracy. She doubted whether she could survive after reading the letter.
"read out--"
Voldemort said word for word.
Umbridge's whole body shook violently, and she almost peed again.
After several attempts with trembling fingers, she finally opened the letter and began to read it stammeringly.
"Hello, Mr. Tom Riddle."
When she heard the name, Voldemort's expression changed, which scared her so much that she stopped talking, but then she felt something hard pressing against her lower back.
"Master wants you to continue reading."
Umbridge suppressed her fear and continued reading.
"I write this letter with regret, hoping that the arrival of this letter will not disturb your mood to pay homage to your little pet - I mean, the snake you brought out from the Albanian jungle, She means something special to you, doesn’t she?”
"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am a fortune teller. I believe you have heard of my name. In fact, there were some small unpleasant frictions between us, which cost you two loyal people. I once again express my deep regret to my subordinates.”
"But I believe this little friction will not affect the communication between us. Mr. Riddle, I have heard about your situation, and I believe that if you still have some sense left and are not completely crazy, you will also understand your situation. "
"You're in danger."
"Professor Dumbledore is trying to kill you completely. In fact, he has already succeeded halfway - he destroyed the Gaunt family ring, he destroyed Hufflepuff's golden cup, and he even found your location, Killed Nagini."
"And, of course, your teenage diary, which was destroyed at the hands of Harry Potter."
"Oh, Mr. Riddle, yes, of course I know about the existence of Horcruxes-"
boom!
The entire hall exploded, and Umbridge screamed in fear. She saw Voldemort's body exuding a substantial, rich black aura, which almost suffocated her.
"Horcrux?" She could feel that Professor Tang contained some very important and dangerous information in the letter.
But she couldn't stop thinking, Voldemort had already raised the wand in his hand and pointed it at her.
"continue!"