Lucius instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Lord, My Lord ..."
Lucius' pale face was bloodless, his eyes looked at Voldemort with fear, which made him look a little weak.
"As long as our plan can succeed, you will soon be able to regain your power, and by then there will be no one in the entire magical world who will be your opponent," Lucius said shakily.
Voldemort's hoarse voice slowly sounded, "Oh? Do you really think so?"
"Of course, My Lord!" Lucius responded hastily.
He almost thought that Voldemort had read his mind.
But thinking about Voldemort's current state, combined with his own mastery of the Occlumency, Lucius relaxed slightly - he didn't believe that the current Voldemort could read through his thoughts in his mind.
Voldemort wasn't about to let Lucius off the hook easily, to be sure, he asked, "So how did Dumbledore know about all this?"
Lucius' pupils shrunk slightly.
"Lord, My Lord ...," Lucius looked at Voldemort with a horrified face.
Even though the current Voldemort didn't have much power left, Lucius still felt extreme fear.
It was as if Voldemort could kill him at any time.
"Maybe ...," Lucius stammered, not knowing how to explain it for a moment.
Voldemort was a little annoyed.
Both subordinates, on the surface, seemed loyal.
But Snape was somewhat unfathomable, and it was difficult for Voldemort to read his mind at the moment, much less be sure of his loyalty.
As for Lucius... He seems to be of no use at all, only knows how to respond submissively and can basically be said to be useless except for being rich.
The key point was that Dumbledore had got the information from somewhere and was now on to him.
Voldemort couldn't be sure just how much information Dumbledore had, or if any of the two subordinates had betrayed him.
Having lost his power, Voldemort was more than a little insecure.
But Snape had the spell he had left on him, and Lucius had even less of a chance to exchange information with Dumbledore.
What the hell had gone wrong?
"Never mind!"
Voldemort suddenly said, "Since we're ready, let's get started!"
"Yes, My Lord!" Lucius said as if he had been pardoned.
***
On the bridge outside Hogwarts Castle, Harry picked up a stone and threw it far towards the Black Lake, while asking absent-mindedly, "Professor Leddy, I've already mastered the Shield Charm, but it's still a little ... a bit not quite smooth when I cast it. Do you know what's wrong with it?"
Since his disastrous defeat at the hands of Andy a month ago, Harry had immediately begun to strive for excellence.
Harry was quite talented in Defence Against the Dark Arts and coupled with his status as a Saviour, Professor Leddy was not stingy in giving him some personal guidance when he asked him for advice on magic.
In fact, Professor Leddy was also very interested in guiding the famous Saviour in front of him.
"The Shield Charm does have a certain degree of difficulty."
Professor Leddy slowly explained, "There are many adult wizards ... even employees of the Ministry of Magic, who cannot effectively use the Shield Charm."
"This might have something to do with the fact that you guys haven't experienced actual combat."
"The Shield Charm is a spell meant to protect yourself, and if you don't have a strong will to want to protect yourself, using the Shield Charm will indeed leave you somewhat out of sorts."
"You lack a little sense of crisis."
Professor Leddy concluded, "But there's no need to rush, if you have the chance to experience a real battle, you should be able to master the Shield Charm in no time - although that's not a good thing."
"Harry ... I don't suppose you've come to me to ask for advice on the little matter of the Shield Charm, have you?"
Harry smiled with some embarrassment.
"..... Yes!"
"Professor, I heard ... that you and my father were classmates?" Harry asked.
"In fact, I was two years senior to him."
Professor Leddy asked with interest, "What? Would you like to know a little bit about your father? He was a very good Seeker, just like you. I've seen you play, excellent catch, Harry!"
"Thanks!"
Harry thanked, and after a moment of entanglement, his tone suddenly became a little more firm, "Professor! Actually, I would like to know something about Professor Snape, before he graduated."
Harry had been investigating Snape for some time now but had never found anything.
It was only at dinner today that Harry had overheard that Professor Leddy knew his father.
That meant he should have known Snape as well!
Harry had observed that there was indeed a rather cold relationship between Professor Leddy and Snape, even a bit of a bad one.
Harry judged that they should have some conflicts.
"Snape? Why are you asking about him?" Professor Leddy asked curiously.
Without waiting for Harry to answer, Professor Leddy raised an eyebrow and said, "If I stop being a professor at Hogwarts at some point, I think I'll be more than happy to tell you some embarrassing stories about Snape for you to keep for laughs."
"But I'm sorry, we're colleagues now."
"And being a professor is a pain in the arse, I can't badmouth another professor in front of one student."
"I have good news though, my tenure is only for a year. If you're keen to learn about Snape's embarrassing stories, come and see me during the summer holidays."
At the end of that, Professor Leddy winked towards Harry.
Harry was a little disheartened.
If he couldn't find out anything about Snape from Professor Leddy's side either, then there was nothing he could do.
It had been over a month now, and no one knew exactly what plot Snape was secretly hatching.
"Professor ...," Harry tried to struggle a little.
Professor Leddy interrupted, "It's late. Harry, I think you should go back."
"Fine!" Harry sort of resigned himself to his fate.
The two walked side by side in the direction of the castle.
Before they could take a few steps, Professor Leddy pulled Harry behind him while looking straight ahead, his expression was solemn as he asked, "Who are you?"
Harry looked up towards the front.
Only to see a wizard in black robes with an odd mask on his face standing at the head of the bridge. His wand was in his hand and he seemed to be a bit of a bad visitor.
"Is he...?"
Harry's face was stony, and he kind of suspected that the black-robed man in front of him was Snape.
Thinking about the last time he and Andy had teamed up to fight the remnants of Voldemort, Harry hastily took his wand out - he remembered what Andy had said at the time: take out your wand, Harry!
The black-robed man walked over without slowing down, his eyes under the mask grimly sweeping over Harry before he raised his wand high and attacked Leddy.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A green light flashed!
"Harry, move aside!"
At the moment of crisis, Leddy hugged Harry, and the two of them jumped off the bridge together with the impact of inertia, and 'flopped' into the Black Lake.
The black-robed man stood on the bridge and glanced down at the black lake before jumping down after them.
----
#Hunter212, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!