Amid the chaos, the colorful lights that had once illuminated the path to the stadium had all gone out. The woods were filled with figures, children were crying, and anxious shouts and conversations echoed through the cold night air.
"Lumos! Where should we go?" Hermione lit up the surroundings with a light spell. The four of them formed a small circle, enclosing Aries in the middle.
"Can we leave here quickly?" Aries spoke up on her own. She did not want to stay here for even a second longer, wishing she could run off to some remote wilderness and hide where no one would ever find her.
"That's impossible. We can't leave Rhys behind," Daphne immediately replied. "We'll wait for him here."
"Rhys?!" Cedric exclaimed. "Up there on the canopy, fighting the Dark Lord—"
Cedric was completely shaken.
That was the Dark Lord, the most terrifying dark wizard in half a century, and clearly someone who had mastered the power of a Domain. And Rhys was actually fighting him?
Cedric did not have a deep impression of Rhys before. He only knew that Rhys was a friend of Daphne and Astoria, and that among the three Slytherins, he was vaguely their leader. He had known Rhys was strong, but he had never imagined he was this strong. Cedric's understanding of Rhys was completely overturned.
"Shh!" Astoria signaled for Cedric to be quiet. There were still plenty of wizards around them. Although the environment was chaotic and most people were too distracted to pay attention, there was always a chance someone might overhear their conversation.
If by chance a passerby heard that Rhys was fighting Voldemort, things would become very troublesome.
"Oh, right!" Daphne slapped her forehead and quickly cast a muffling spell so their conversation could not be heard by others.
"You don't understand—" Aries grew a bit anxious. She was genuinely worried that the Domain expert might not be able to hold off Voldemort and that he would come after them, wiping them all out in one go.
"We understand very well. Rhys will definitely win," Daphne said confidently. After spending so much time with him, she did not believe Voldemort could defeat Rhys. Even if it was the infamous Dark Lord, at the Domain level, she had never seen Rhys suffer a loss.
The girl's certainty even made Aries waver.
"Can he win?"
"He will win!"
Aries: …
"Alright then." She could only accept reality and sincerely pray that this Rhys would defeat Voldemort.
"So why do you think the Dark Lord would keep chasing after you?" Hermione finally voiced the question she had been holding in for a long time.
She was genuinely puzzled. What secret did this woman possess that made the Dark Lord so fixated on her?
Aries: Huh?
Aries froze for a moment.
Hermione: ?
Seeing Aries's reaction, she had a strange premonition…
"Hmm… now that you mention it, it does seem like he has no particular reason to keep chasing me…" Aries initially felt there was nothing about her worth coveting, but then she suddenly realized. This body itself was the reason Voldemort was hunting her.
"Huh? I've never heard that Voldemort is that lustful," Daphne said with a puzzled expression. How could something like this even happen?
"It's his Domain," Aries explained to the young wizards about the special nature of Voldemort's Domain.
"Those who are devoured by Voldemort's Domain will become his puppets and be enslaved by him. You should have seen it just now on the stadium canopy. He summoned the dead Death Eaters, and another Constellation Mage from the Society was also enslaved by him."
Wizards who possessed a Domain were rare. Voldemort would not give up the opportunity to devour Aries. Previously, he had restrained his desire because Aries was the last link between him and the Secret Society. Now that Polaris had given tacit approval, Voldemort would no longer hold back.
Most likely, tonight would be Aries's end.
"I see." Now the young wizards present all understood.
After that, the group discussed for a while and decided to return to the camp to wait for Rhys's victorious return.
"We can prepare a pot of hot soup for Rhys, and maybe some desserts," Daphne suggested.
Astoria nodded in agreement. Although Cedric and Hermione felt the decision was somewhat odd, they did not object.
They walked forward along a small path. Before long, Daphne, who was in front, suddenly stopped.
"What—"
"Shh!" Daphne signaled Hermione to be quiet, then cast a Disillusionment Charm on her companions.
Soon, they heard the sound of a family talking. From the familiar tone, they easily recognized that it was the Malfoy family.
"You go back first. I'll stay here and observe a bit longer." It was Lucius's voice.
"No!" Draco rejected his father's suggestion angrily.
Lucius fell silent for a moment, then sighed and spoke in a commanding tone, "Draco, I'm not discussing this with you. If that person…"
He paused, then continued, "The two of you go home first. If I don't make it back, or if he comes to our door, use the Floo Network to go to Hogsmeade immediately, then make sure you enter Hogwarts. Remember, no matter what, you must meet Dumbledore."
"Lucius…" Narcissa called his name anxiously.
"The Mark has completely flared up. That person… it's him. He has returned." Lucius's voice sounded worse than crying.
He knew all too well how dangerous the things he had done were. If not for the fact that he had once been deeply trusted by the Dark Lord, and that there were many others like him, Lucius would have long since fled with his wife and child.
Even so, he had to steel himself and go meet the Dark Lord, to try and earn his forgiveness. This was a true test of life and death. The Dark Lord would not punish everyone, but he would certainly pick one or two examples to make a point. The chances of Lucius being chosen as that example were quite high, and worse still, he had lost that item…
"If that really happens, aside from Gringotts, I've also stored some assets in several other places. They are located at—"
At this point, all three of them had a trace of sobbing in their voices.
A sudden crack sounded in the air. Lucius jumped like a startled rabbit, pulled out his wand, and stared tensely toward the source of the noise.
"It's me, Yaxley!" a low male voice came from the darkness.
Lucius let out a breath of relief, but he still did not lower his wand.
"Shouldn't you be busy evacuating those spectators?"
Yaxley waved his hand, indicating he had no time for that. When the Mark flared up, if his colleagues had not stopped him, he would have already Apparated away.
He glanced around and lowered his voice. "Lucius, I've got some shocking news. Someone is fighting that person."
Lucius originally thought it was an Auror from the Ministry, but Yaxley shook his head.
"That's not the main point. The point is that I saw that person kill over a dozen people with a single spell as soon as he appeared. After that, he was actually suppressing the Dark Lord and beating him. It was terrifying."
Lucius: ???
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI