International-Incident? (I) [Chapter 286]

Voldemort stumbled and grabbed his throne to steady himself. He was bleeding profusely from all over his body and even though his wounds were healing at a visible rate, Voldemort could feel the weakness creeping up to him… He hated feeling weak like this, he hated it… Then he glanced toward the place where Nagini was usually coiled up and started to froth in anger.

It was Potter… It must have been Potter…

Voldemort snarled in rage and the windows exploded… He slammed his hand down on his throne, cracking it. He was so angry that he started to punch the throne and continued to do so without caring about the fact that his hands were bleeding and he was smashing his own throne. Voldemort was lost in his anger when someone nervously knocked on the door.

Voldemort growled but before answering the door, he decided to fix his robes. He didn’t want to be seen by his followers in his current state. He didn’t want his followers to know that he lost the fight and was forced to retreat. However, it was impossible for him to heal his wounds without a Healer, so he decided to leave them be.

Voldemort turned toward his throne and grimaced… His throne was in a sorry state, but it would do. He didn’t have the patience nor was he in the mood to fix it right now…

“WHAT?!!” Voldemort snarled loudly, already planning to punish whoever dared to disturb him, no matter the reason.

Crabbe Sr entered the room, looking really nervous. It was pretty obvious that he didn’t come here willingly. He was forced to come here by the others. Usually, Voldemort would have enjoyed the way the man was squirming around, but right now, he simply wanted to get this over with. He was frustrated with how everything was turning out.

“My Lord-” Crabbe stuttered out and Voldemort growled lightly as he started to lose his patience. Crabber paled and started to speak hurriedly. “-Mulciber has returned with the Dementors and he says that the attack was a success” Crabbe revealed and Voldemort seemed to perk up at the report.

“Then why isn’t Mulciber here?” Voldemort asked, sounding mildly curious.

Crabbe seemed to whimper at the question, but he still managed to soldier on… “My Lord, he was injured during the mission. The Healer says it is nothing serious” Crabbe explained quickly, hoping to avoid any sort of punishment, but even though he was a fool, he knew that it was nothing but wishful thinking.

“And how was he injured?” Voldemort asked with a dangerous edge in his voice.

Crabbe Sr lowered his gaze, not daring to stare at his Master. “He said that the Unspeakables and an unknown group were already there to stop the Dementors, but he swears that the Dementors managed to kill hundreds of Muggles before they could even react” Crabbe hurriedly finished while trembling in fear.

‘The Unspeakables?’ Voldemort questioned himself, trying to look indifferent, but he was somewhat bothered by the revelation. ‘The Unspeakables were completely neutral the last time, so why were they getting involved now?’ Voldemort questioned himself. While he never considered the Unspeakables to be a serious threat to his person, they could be an annoyance to him. However, they could definitely be a serious threat to his forces.

‘Maybe, it is for Rockwood?’ Voldemort mused internally. ‘I cannot be sure… However, what’s done is done’ Voldemort internally shook his head. After all, Amelia Bones was already working with Potter, so there was a chance that the Unspeakables were already working for him.

“Is that so?” Voldemort asked in an amused tone. Even though Mulciber and the Dementors were forced to retreat, he still managed to kill hundreds if the report was true, which meant that the mission was mildly successful. He would have loved it if all the Muggles in the celebration were killed, but he wasn’t expecting such a result in the first place.

However, why were the Unspeakables loitering in Muggle London in the first place? Even if they were working for Potter, they shouldn’t have known about the attack, or was there really a spy amongst his ranks?

“Yes, My Lord, or at least that's what Mulciber reported” Crabbe confirmed while trembling. He knew he was going to be punished… That was exactly why he didn’t want to come to deliver the news, but Nott promised to forgive one of his debts, so here he was.

“I see…” Voldemort mumbled as he started to tap his armrest with his fingertips. “You may leave, Crabbe. You have given me a lot to think about” Voldemort said in a casual tone and Crabbe literally perked up in joy, realizing that he wasn’t going to be punished by his Master. Crabbe immediately stood and respectfully bowed his head.

“Thank you, My Lord” His gratitude was obvious and after getting a nod from his Master, he finally turned around and started to leave, planning to boast how he managed to avoid punishment to his peers. Nott was going to be furious since he decided to forgive a debt for apparently no reason.

“Oh, and Crabbe…” The Dark Lord called out. Crabbe stopped and turned around, still pleased with how everything turned out. “-Crucio!” Voldemort snarled and after all, all Crabbe knew was pain…

~~London~~ (A couple of hours ago)

Saul stared down at the streets with a blank look on his face. The streets were completely filled with people, completely ignorant of the horror that was about to befall them. Voldemort was planning to use Dementors and while he was confident that they would be able to fend them off eventually, he wasn’t sure if they would be quick enough to do so.

“Ah… You must be the Royal Mages?” Saul spoke out loudly apparently to no one, but moments later, cloaked figures started to appear behind him as they started to dispel the Disillusionment Charms.

“So, he told you about us…” A feminine figure spoke up as she stepped forward and took off her hood. There was no reason to hide her identity anymore since they already knew about her secret Organization. “I never expected the Greycloaks to submit to a Dark Lord” The woman continued to speak as she walked up to stand beside Saul.

Saul chuckled a bit at that… “At first, we weren’t planning to, but I realized that we wanted to survive, it was better to bend the knee before it was too late” Saul explained.

“Hmm…” The woman simply hummed at that before she signaled her men to take positions for the eventual attack…