Chapter 766: Voldemort is so Stable (Edited)

Malfoy Manor.

The Death Eaters were gathered here, listening to Snape's report to Voldemort about Dumbledore's "condition."

"Dumbledore's injuries should have lasted for years with Fish's help, but some time ago, his injuries suddenly deteriorated..."

Snape looked at the expressionless Voldemort and continued, "My guess is that he has less than two months to live, and even though Fish is doing everything possible to keep him alive, he won't last more than three months."

"Do you know the exact reason why that old Dumbledore is deteriorating?" Voldemort asked, his scarlet eyes staring intensely at Snape.

"Fish said Dumbledore drank a bright green potion, why and where Dumbledore drank it, I don't know. He was interrupted by Potter when he tried to continue, and Dumbledore didn't tell me the details." Snape's face remained impassive as he spoke.

"If Dumbledore came to you for treatment, why didn't you simply poison him? It couldn't have been easier for you, right?" Bellatrix asked sternly, "Or are you as afraid to do that as you are of saving yourself?!"

Snape glared at her and then withdrew with indifference, not bothering to waste time explaining to that madwoman.

His dismissive attitude, however, further enraged Bellatrix, but before she could press Snape further, little Barty spoke up.

"With Fish McGonagall around, it doesn't make sense for Snape to poison him," he rasped, his eyes sharply fixed on Snape. "So, I even suspect that Dumbledore's injury is not necessarily true."

"No, they're not!" A shrill voice resembling a siren sounded, and at the opposite end of the table, a toad-faced woman nodded, "Even Veritaserum has no effect on that little bastard!"

After the dementors were released from Azkaban, Umbridge had escaped and seamlessly joined the ranks of the Death Eaters.

In fact, most of the fugitives had come under Voldemort's wing, although many of them couldn't attend the Death Eaters' meetings, and Umbridge was able to participate due to her involvement with both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts.

"I'm only telling you what I know; it's the Master who must decide." Snape calmly looked at Barty again, ignoring Umbridge as if she didn't exist.

Voldemort didn't directly acknowledge Snape's information, even though he believed it to be mostly true... because he didn't want the Death Eaters to know that he had suffered another defeat at the hands of Fish and Harry.

In fact, Voldemort had already sensed that some of the Death Eaters were considering retirement, and although he had used some obvious types to make an example of them, he had not been able to dissuade the rest.

The reason for this, of course, was that Voldemort himself had to flee, and those Death Eaters whom the wind had kept out of Azkaban naturally had second thoughts.

It wasn't until Voldemort found a way to counter the Patronus Charm in an old dark magic book and perfected it into a counter-Patronus spell that could be performed with a wand, that the anxious Death Eaters calmed down a bit.

If they knew that he was once again defeated by Fish... to be precise, by Harry Potter, those fools would definitely start wavering again, but Voldemort couldn't kill them all as he had done before.

"Pius, what has happened with what I asked you to do?" Voldemort looked at Thicknesse, the current Minister of Magic.

"I haven't been able to see Dumbledore, my lord," Thicknesse stood up and respectfully replied, "I visited Hogwarts under the pretext of searching for dementors and Azkaban fugitives, as you ordered me to, but the only people I encountered were Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall and Ravenclaw's Head of House, Filius Flitwick. According to their response, Dumbledore had more important matters to attend to and was not present at the school at that time."

"Does that mean what Snape said is true?" Barty murmured in surprise as he looked at the still expressionless Snape.

"Or it could be a trick from that old Dumbledore," Voldemort stroked Nagini, still uncertain about Snape's information...

In fact, he was pretending to still be unconvinced by Snape's information.

Voldemort had confidence in the spells he had prepared. Even Dumbledore, he did not believe could survive the curse of two Horcruxes. In fact, it was incredible to Voldemort that Fish could keep Dumbledore alive for such a long time.

And the reason he pretended not to believe it yet was simple... because if he didn't figure out why his wand had exploded when his magic collided with Harry Potter's, even if Dumbledore were dead, Voldemort would still not feel secure enough.

After all, besides Dumbledore, there was also Fish McGonagall, a being constantly challenging his knowledge of magic. Who knew what cards Fish held up his sleeve besides a giant Patronus and a giant squid at their disposal?

Of course, Voldemort did not believe he could defeat Fish after learning the Anti-Patronus spell. So, he returned to the question of how to deal with the inexplicable resilience of Harry Potter.

Although Voldemort did not know that Harry was actually his own Horcrux, he still made similar assumptions to Dumbledore's through his own resurrection with Harry's blood, his absorption of the power of the ancient protective spell, and the fact that they had used twin wands before.

Of course, Voldemort had a solution, and it was one that suited his character best: find a wand powerful enough.

In the tradition of wizards, there was a wand that could make its master invincible, and he had confirmed from Ollivander's own lips that such a wand existed.

Whether or not the Elder Wand was truly crafted by Death, it was no less powerful. And wasn't it natural for him, the Dark Lord, to wield the most powerful wand of all?

Of course, while he searched for the legendary Elder Wand, Voldemort would not let his servants idle. In addition to allowing them to gather and control men to strengthen their forces, he had to ask them to find out what had happened to Dumbledore, even if it was feigned.

As Voldemort directed the Death Eaters to carry out his orders, and the Order of the Phoenix got to work after their meeting, Dumbledore had already left England with Fish and arrived in Austria, in front of a dark and intimidating tower.

It was a gloomy, very ancient tower with dark, weathered stone tiles covered in moss and white cobwebs in the corners, and it had been abandoned for a very long time.

The main door of the tower was wide open, but even if it were closed, it would be useless, as the wooden door had rotted in many places, and the nails and iron were covered in a thick layer of rust.

Above the entrance of the main door, there was an inscription: "For the greater good."