Victoria's Pov.
"Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to remove Harry Potter from his present safe location by nightfall next Saturday!" informed Severus Snape, the Dark Lord, entwining his fingers.
The dark lord seemed to consider and scratched his chin.
"Saturday...at nightfall. Good. Very well.
And that information came from you?” Voldemort demanded, narrowing his eyes as he studied Snape.
"From the source we were talking about..." said the former Potions professor.
"I've heard otherwise, Heer," said Yaxley, a Death Eater seated at one of the back seats at the long table.
"Dawlish, the Auror slipped that Potter's relocation will not take place until the 30th of this month," but Snape seemed to disagree with that assumption, interrupting Yaxley in a monotonous voice.
“Dawlish, wants to mislead us.
The protection of Harry Potter is no longer the responsibility of Auror Headquarters.
The Order believes we have the Ministry under control.” Severus ended.
"Well, I guess you're not entirely wrong there," said a slightly rotund Death Eater I didn't know who was sitting across from Lucius Malfoy.
At which point some started laughing.
Except for a few who stared blankly at the table and seemed to be in another world.
"Lord," Yaxley spoke and everyone turned to him.
"I am extremely certain that it is true that Potter is not taken away until the thirtieth, the night before he turns seventeen." The Death Eater said gravely, lifting his chin.
Severus huffed in amusement and gave Yaxley a victorious look before starting to speak again.
"My source told me they were planning to lay a false trail.
She will probably be.
Dawlish was certainly placed under a Confusion Charm.
It would not be the first time.
He is considered vulnerable."
"Lord, I assure you, Dawlish seemed absolutely convinced," Yaxley said, glaring at Severus.
It was kind of amusing to watch everyone struggling for the Dark Lord's approval.
"When he's under a confusion spell, of course he's absolutely convinced.
As Yaxley said, the Auror Office will no longer play a role in protecting Harry Potter going forward.
The Order believes we have infiltrated the Ministry.
As I mentioned before,” the former Potions professor said calmly, leaning back in his chair.
"Where are you going to hide the boy next?" Voldemort asked Snape.
"At an Order member's house," Severus Snape answered gravely and continued.
"The site has been given all the protection the Order and the Ministry together can muster, according to the source.
Once Potter gets there, we have little chance of catching him.
Sir, unless the Ministry falls before next Saturday.
Then we might be able to find and pick up enough of those wards to be able to break through the rest as well.” Snape finished his speech and looked around the room.
"Well, Yaxley..." an odd look filled the Dark Lord's eyes.
"Will the Ministry be down by next Saturday?" Voldemort asked the most important question, waiting for an answer from his follower.
Yaxley slowly straightened and began to speak.
"Lord, I have succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse on Phius Thicknesse."
The one just spoken shifted nervously in his chair, waiting for his master's reaction.
"That's a start," the dark lord said coolly, scanning the crowd.
“But Thicknesse is one man.
Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act.
A failed assassination attempt on the Minister would set me back a long way." Voldemort said seriously.
“Yes sir, that is true.
But as you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse not only has regular contact with the Minister personally, but also with the heads of all other Ministry departments.
Now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, it will be easy to subjugate the others as well.
They can all work together to overthrow Scrimgeour." Yaxley stated and received nods of approval from the other Death Eaters.
"It will be as Severus said it would be.
We will intercept Harry Potter when he is taken from his current safe location." Voldemort said coolly, tapping his chin with his long, disgusting fingernails.
"Sir, I'm volunteering.
I want to kill the boy!” my mother said murderously, but was interrupted by a scream from the bound Muggle Studies teacher.
Voldemort turned to her and said angrily to Peter Pettigrew.
"WORMTAIL! You should silence our guest, or am I unclear about that?"
“No, no not at all, sir. Will be done. Right away. Lord.” Pettigrew spoke quickly, his voice shaking.
"As stimulating as I find your thirst for blood, Bellatrix.
No one kills Harry Potter but myself!” the Dark Lord said, pausing before continuing.
"However, there is the unfortunate complication that my wand and Potter's share the same core.
In a way, they are twins.
So while we can hurt each other, we can't kill each other.
If I'm going to destroy him for good, I'll need someone else's wand."
...
"N / A? Don't any of you want that honor for yourself?" Voldemort asked the group, rising from his seat.
He stopped behind the Malfoy family and turned to the white-haired homeowner.
"How about your staff, Lucius?" the dark lord asked, leaning diagonally behind Draco's father.
"M-mean, sir?"
"Mine, sir?" Voldemort mimicked Lucius, stretching out his hand and continuing to speak.
"I order you to hand it over to me!"
Lucius Malfoy handed over his wand with trembling fingers, trying to avoid eye contact with the Dark Lord.
"Do I recognize elm there?"
"Yes sir," Lucius replied in a low voice.
The dark lord broke off the snake's head and held the staff up to the light.
Lucius Malfoy flinched, but Voldemort ignored this and continued to ask.
"And the core?"
"D-Dragon Heartstring."
"Hmm, dragon heartstring," the dark lord repeated, throwing the broken snake's head onto the table.
Voldemort pulled out his staff and compared the two.
For a moment it seemed as if Lucius was expecting to get Voldemort's wand, but he suddenly flinched when the dark lord started laughing harder.
"Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?"
A few started laughing and Draco's father slumped a few inches in his chair.
"I gave you your freedom. Isn't that enough for you?",
Lucius Malfoy said nothing and turned away from his master.
The dark lord turned and pointed his wand at the bound Hogwarts teacher.
"In case anyone isn't aware, we have Charity Burbage as our guest today, who until recently taught at Hogwarts.
Her area of expertise was Muggle Studies,” the Dark Lord finished, earning a few laughs from his followers.
"Miss Burbage believes that we and Muggles are little different.
She finds it beneficial to mate with them and mix the pure blood.
Far from being abhorrent to them, mixing muggle and magical blood is desirable." Voldemort spoke gravely, pacing the room.
"S-Severus, Severus. Please, we are friends after all....", she begged the former potions professor, but he made no move to help her.
"Avada Kedavra!" the dark lord shouted without warning and a flash of green light hit the woman in the chest, who shortly afterwards hit the table with a resounding thump.
I felt Draco grip my hand tighter and look away.
"Nagini. Eat!” Voldemort said, resuming his seat at the head of the long table.
When Nagini slithered towards Miss Burbage on the table, everyone took their hands off the table.
I grimaced in disgust when the former Muggle Studies teacher disappeared entirely after a few moments.
The Dark Lord eyed Lucius Malfoy curiously and stood up once more.
"Lucius, I've noticed that you and your family aren't looking very happy lately...
What do you dislike about my presence here in your house, Lucius?” Voldemort asked the white-haired householder, resting his hands on the edge of the table.
"Nothing, nothing sir!"
"Such lies, Lucius," said the dark lord and his soft voice gave me disgusting goosebumps.
"Lord," my mother began to speak, leaning across the table toward Voldemort.
"It is an honor to have you in this house.
There can be no higher joy.”, she said in a high and shrill voice.
The dark lord cocked his head and eyed my mother critically.
"No greater joy......even compared to the happy event that took place in your family this week?"
"I don't know what you mean, sir," my mother said, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm speaking of your niece, Bellatrix.
She just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin.
How proud you must be.”, the dark lord finished and got up slowly.
The table erupted in laughter and my mother tried to defend herself but was interrupted by Voldemort.
"The meeting is hereby ended.", he announced and Disapparated.