Chapter -18.
In the dim, damp cell, Arlis, desperate to survive, shared everything he knew about the Venus family with Lester.
"The head of the Venus family, Bernard Venus, is the director of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic. All Aurors in Britain are technically under his authority."
"Bernard Venus..."
A flicker of anger flashed in Lester's eyes; it seemed that Bernard Venus was the one who had taken his family's place.
No wonder he could easily find a way to frame him and toss him into prison; he was the director of the Auror Office after all.
"Keep going!" Lester urged, fixing his gaze on Arlis. "What about the other members of the Venus family?"
"There are six members in total, part of a rising pure-blood family from the chaotic times of Voldemort," Arlis said, swallowing hard. "They include Bernard's parents, his wife, and one child. He also has a brother who fled to Europe during Voldemort's reign, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."
Lester nodded, starting to piece together the puzzle of the Venus family.
To him, the magical world was no longer the fairy tale he once imagined. It was a gritty reality, filled with bloodshed and complicated plots.
He couldn't naively believe that Voldemort's campaign against Muggleborn wizards was genuinely about the absurd 'pure-blood theory.'
Did Voldemort not realize he was a half-blood himself?
He knew it well, yet he still clung to the 'pure-blood theory,' even leading his followers in the massacre of Muggle-born wizards.
What was the reason behind this?
In Lester's eyes, Voldemort's actions were straightforward. He targeted Muggleborn wizards while promoting the pure-blood theory simply because his supporters were old pure-blood aristocrats, and he was using that to his advantage.
Instead of being the sole instigator of the second magical war, it was more accurate to say that the old pure-blood families were the ones leading the charge.
There were just too many Muggle-born wizards in the magical world, threatening the status of the old pure-blood families.
To protect their interests, these families had to fight back, pouring their resources into supporting a Dark Lord.
Even without Voldemort, these pure-blood families would back another Dark Lord, as long as he aligned with their interests.
After all, these families had been around for thousands of years, with deep roots and the means to nurture a Dark Lord.
They simply underestimated Tom Riddle's talent and inadvertently supported a true Dark Lord who could even overpower them.
Once Voldemort gained power, he turned against the very pure-blood families that had supported him. To keep their backing, he maintained the pure-blood theory, helping them eliminate Muggle-born wizards while consolidating his power.
Such actions were bound to upset the existing power holders, particularly the emerging families in control of the Ministry of Magic.
To protect their own interests, these families quickly allied with Muggle-born wizards, branding Voldemort and his followers as threats to the wizarding community and recruiting many Muggle-borns as Aurors to take him down.
So, in Lester's view, the chaos from ten years ago was just a frantic struggle between two interest groups entrenched in the magical world.
And now, the outcome was clear: Voldemort had been defeated by Harry Potter.
The new ruling families of the Ministry of Magic had emerged victorious, becoming the true leaders of the magical world. This is why Bernard Venus, the director of the Auror Office, could act so arrogantly, imprisoning Lester in Azkaban without any judgment from the Ministry.
Lester took a moment to digest this information in his cell and identified his future enemies. First and foremost, the new ruling families of the Ministry of Magic would definitely be his foes, as they were the ones who framed him and sent assassins after him. His relationship with them was beyond repair.
"I need to get stronger," Lester thought, determination shining in his eyes. He felt small and powerless against the formidable Venus family. Even if his plan to ambush the Ministry with a group of Azkaban escapees succeeded in a few days, taking down his enemies would still be a challenge.
Plus, he needed to create chaos in the Ministry while clearing his own name. After all, he was set to attend Hogwarts in a year. If he stirred up trouble and was labeled a dark wizard, how could he ever go to Hogwarts?
So, he knew he had to gather his strength now to prepare for the uprising ahead.
"Enough with the chatter," Lester said, looking down at Arlis, who was still rambling on as if he wanted to share the entire family tree of the Venus family. He gave him a light slap.
[ Ding! Fear value from Arlis +1000 ]
"You're lying to me!" Lester said, staring at Arlis with a blank expression, making him squirm.
He thought he had shared everything he knew! Why was Lester still accusing him of lying? Noticing Arlis's distressed look, Lester didn't care and started to punch and kick him.
[ Ding! Fear value from Arlis +1000 ]
[ Ding! Fear value from Arlis +1000 ]
[ Ding! Fear value from Arlis +1000 ]
With each hit, this powerful dark wizard contributed 1000 fear points to Lester, just as he expected. The truth was, Lester wasn't hitting Arlis because he had deceived him. In fact, he didn't even know who wanted him dead; he just claimed Arlis was lying to have an excuse to hit him. After all, the fear points from Arlis were plentiful and came in fast.
In just ten minutes, he racked up 10,000 fear points, and combined with the points he gained from earlier, Arlis alone contributed 50,000 fear points. That was enough for him to draw from the secondary prize pool again.
"Arlis, do you realize that deceiving me could really get you in trouble?" Lester narrowed his eyes, locking onto Arlis's fearful gaze.
Seeing the intensity in Lester's eyes, Arlis gulped nervously. Weakly, he replied, "Weren't you the one who didn't even know who wanted to kill you? Why are you saying I'm lying now?"
As a top assassin, Arlis was no fool and quickly pointed out the flaw in Lester's words.
Lester: "..."
Caught off guard by Arlis's question, Lester awkwardly rubbed his nose, but after a moment, his fierce demeanor returned.
"I see deception in your eyes."
Lester spoke earnestly, "Foolish killers like you are the most heartless; who knows if you're telling the truth?"
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Tl/N : Reading this? Throw some powerstones then..