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Chapter 97: Chapter 97 The return of the Dark Lord?

"Mr. Dracula... Is he in this room?" Lucius asked quietly, his eyes wide as he looked at the attendant beside him.

"Mr. Dracula is in this booth, Mr. Malfoy," the attendant replied with a smile.

Lucius swallowed hard, trying several times to knock on the door before ultimately lowering his hand again. He still couldn't believe that this door would actually be opened one day and that he had the opportunity to step inside...

"Come in, Lucius."

At that moment, Dracula's distinctive deep voice came from inside the door, and the opulent, dazzlingly luxurious door opened.

Lucius finally breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the door open, and tiptoed into the booth.

Although, as the current head of the Malfoy family, Lucius prided himself on having seen many grand scenes, he still couldn't help but gasp in awe when he entered this booth, taking a few moments to glance around.

It turned out that on a certain day, just as the summer vacation for Hogwarts students had just begun, all Death Eaters with the Dark Mark tattooed on their left arms felt a series of strange sensations in their arms.

They quietly found places where there were no other people and secretly looked at the mark on their arms—the once pale red Dark Mark gradually turned crimson, and over time, the crimson color began to shift to a charred black.

Seeing this, some felt panic and fear, some felt confused and helpless, while others were overjoyed.

But all former Death Eaters knew one thing—

The Dark Lord had returned!

Due to the terrifying influence of the Dark Lord, regardless of their feelings about the Dark Lord's return, all Death Eaters still active in the British magical community Disapparated and rushed to Little Hangleton, the Riddle family graveyard, where Voldemort was.

Among them were many wizards who had escaped Azkaban during the wizarding war years ago, including Alecto Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Antonin Dolohov, Auguste Rookwood, and notably Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy!

Voldemort successfully intimidated everyone with the body he had created using the remains of Tom Riddle, or rather, even though he only had an incomplete body, he was still more powerful than all the Death Eaters!

Facing the not inconsiderable number of Death Eaters after many years, whether they were sincere or feigned, Voldemort expressed his satisfaction.

As for why he was eager to appear before fully restoring his strength, it was because he was worried that his former Death Eaters would be gradually divided and eroded by Dumbledore and Dracula.

In fact, Voldemort was never worried about the strongest wizard, Dumbledore, but rather about Count Dracula of the vampire clan!

Voldemort knew that Dracula did not have as solid a moral baseline as Dumbledore. If Dracula was determined to weaken the Death Eaters' power, he might use unscrupulous means to coerce, threaten, or even kill the living forces of the Death Eaters.

This would have a significant impact on Voldemort, who had not appeared for over a decade.

So, Voldemort appeared, summoned his Death Eaters, and personally told them—"I am immortal. No one can kill me. All of you should not think about escaping my control!"

At the same time, he reiterated his blood purity ideology, allowing these wizards who wanted more benefits for their families to see the future of pure blood they longed for in his words!

Voldemort's harsh and grandiose words were also very effective. Many wavering wizards extinguished their thoughts of turning to the Ministry of Magic or Dumbledore and instead returned to the embrace of the Death Eaters.

After all, they believed that Dumbledore was already old, while Voldemort was undying and immortal!

Lucius also wanted to restore his former glorious Death Eater identity and seize benefits in the pure-blood society for the Malfoy family.

Until Voldemort praised Snape's contribution as an undercover at Hogwarts and severely reprimanded him for losing something important—Lucius even received a soul-crushing Cruciatus Curse on the very first day Voldemort announced his return.

As a result, Lucius changed.

He knew that he had fallen out of favor within the Death Eater ranks and that continuing down this path was futile.

However, in Lucius's mind, the only one who could oppose Voldemort, Dumbledore, would not engage in dirty dealings with him.

So, he thought of Dracula.

Having witnessed Dracula's actions at that board meeting and heard his son Draco's praise of the professor, Lucius realized through a narrow lens that Dracula's strength was definitely not weak!

In his view, even if Dracula could not match Voldemort and Dumbledore, he would not be too far from them. More importantly, this Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had a more flexible moral baseline, which suited his cooperation needs.

So, he arranged to meet Dracula at the Leaky Cauldron in Knockturn Alley before the school year started, hoping to discuss cooperation in such a confidential place.

When Lucius arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and saw Dracula sitting in the closed-off booth that had been shut for a hundred years, he also thought of the parchment in Dracula's hand that could expel board members—

Lucius suddenly realized that Dracula's identity might be more complex and profound than he had imagined!

...

"Interesting," Dracula said with a smirk after listening to Lucius's account. "I'm thinking, next time Voldemort summons you with the Dark Mark... How about I Disapparate with you and deal with his new body?"

Lucius was horrified.

"Mr. Dracula, please don't!" he quickly advised. "Even if you can defeat the Dark Lord, if you don't kill him thoroughly, he will suspect me when he returns next time!"

"I hope you will spare me a life considering the information I've provided..."

"Alright, it seems I can't bully him for the time being," Dracula said with a hint of boredom. "You may leave. Remember to send me the list of the dark magic equipment you used."

"Certainly!" Lucius wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly left the luxurious booth.

Talking to someone who frequently mentioned "bullying the Dark Lord" was quite stressful...

After Lucius left, Dracula poured himself another glass of wine but suddenly lost his interest in drinking.

"School is about to start. How come I haven't found a tool... um... an assistant yet..." Dracula slumped onto the soft sofa, staring out the window with some concern.

Through the crystal window, he observed the various dubious-looking wizards and dark creatures on the narrow street of Knockturn Alley.

"Hmm?" Dracula suddenly made a small sound of surprise.

He saw a skinny figure with round glasses.