Malfoy Manor. After returning from Gringotts, Lucius had been pacing restlessly at home.
Severus had been absent from the public eye for a long time. Since France, Lucius had also lost contact with Draco, and no letters had come back during this period.
This made both Lucius and Narcissa increasingly anxious about their son's situation.
The recent push to expedite the vault matter at Gringotts was partly because Lucius feared that if something unexpected happened to Severus, he might use the issue of the vault and the cup as a pretext to further manipulate him using his son.
But the vault matter required connections at the Ministry, and the goblins' reaction at Gringotts needed time.
If there was still no contact from Severus, even if Lucius didn't go mad, his wife Narcissa would surely have a complete breakdown with him.
By now, only the couple remained at home. They didn't even feel like eating dinner. Narcissa was practically crying over Draco's photo every day, as if her son would never return.
Just as Lucius sat despondently on the sofa, watching the sky outside darken bit by bit, time passing minute by minute, his mind in turmoil,
An owl suddenly flew to the window, tapping on the glass pane with its beak.
This made Lucius start. He quickly reacted, strode to the window, opened it, and took the letter from the owl's talon!
The envelope was blank. The content inside was also extremely brief, brief to the point of containing only one sentence and a name.
[10 p.m. Gather everyone at your house. Master wishes to see you. - Severus Snape]
Lucius stared at the words on the note, stunned for a long time. A full twenty seconds passed before his hand began to tremble uncontrollably, understanding the true meaning of this letter!
Lucius took a deep breath. He stood up from the sofa and immediately began to act.
"Dobby! Dobby! Where have you died off to!"
The house-elf with a white cloth on its head appeared with a pop in front of Lucius. Its large ears drooped as it looked weakly at Lucius.
"Master, what does you be needing?"
"Release all the owls," Lucius said, his face showing an expression that was a mix of excitement and agitation. He kept pacing back and forth. "Don't send anything with them, just release them all!"
Dobby bowed its large head to Lucius, then disappeared from the spot again.
Not long after, from the Malfoy owlery, over a dozen owls soared into the sky, their wings flapping as they disappeared into the overcast night sky.
Narcissa heard the commotion outside. She came downstairs, her eyes red, clearly having just cried.
"What's happening? Who are you summoning?"
"Draco will be back soon," Lucius said, taking a deep breath.
This news wiped the worry and sorrow from Narcissa's face. She looked at her husband in surprise, quickly descending the stairs.
"Did Snape write to you! He's bringing our son back! Is that it!"
"Not only is he bringing our son back," Lucius said suddenly, "He has also found Master. Soon, he will arrive with our son and Master!"
Hearing the word 'Master', Narcissa's face turned somewhat pale. But her expression only froze for a moment before she forced a smile again.
"They... they found Master..."
"Yes!"
"That's... that's wonderful news, there couldn't be better news... I mean, the things we did before..."
Lucius certainly understood what Narcissa was implying. He spoke loudly, partly to counter his wife's concerns, partly to bolster his own courage.
"There's no need to worry about that at all! We never betrayed Master, did we? Severus must have spoken with Master, told him that we acted this way only to preserve our strength, waiting for Master's return. There was no disloyalty whatsoever!"
To this, he specifically added,
"And it was Draco and Severus who found Master together. Master will recognize our son. He will see our loyalty in this."
Narcissa was somewhat comforted by Lucius's words. Her face finally regained some color. Lucius then told her to wait in the bedroom and not come out later, as many people would be arriving at their house soon.
Lucius didn't have to wait long. Less than twenty minutes after he released the owls, the fireplace in the drawing room flared to life, and two figures, a man and a woman, emerged from the green flames.
It was the Carrow siblings!
"If you've released owls at this hour for something unrelated to Snape or Master, we'll tear your house apart tonight."
Lucius didn't respond to their grumbling. He simply pointed at the letter on the table.
When the Carrow siblings saw the contents of the letter, they, like Lucius initially, were stunned for several dozen seconds. Then, Alecto Carrow whirled around to face Lucius.
"Snape isn't lying!"
"It's less than an hour until 10 p.m. What purpose would he have in tricking us with this?" Lucius said flatly. "Just to amuse himself at our expense?"
Compared to his sister's disbelief, Amycus had more far-reaching thoughts.
"He's really found Master now... Master wants to see us. Does that mean... Master has accepted his narrative! We are the most loyal ones now!"
Lucius frowned at him.
"What nonsense are you spouting? We have always been the most loyal. Biding our time back then was only to preserve our strength for Master's resurgence. Or do you have other ideas?"
Seeing Lucius's face turn faster than flipping a page, Amycus immediately caught on. He quickly waved his hands.
"No, no! Of course, we also planned from the start to preserve our strength to help Master rise again! We have always been loyal! The most loyal!"
Even the hot-tempered Alecto, after squinting at Lucius intimidating her brother for a moment, didn't say much more.
These two siblings were clearly not fools. They understood that with Severus having truly found Master, coupled with Lucius's relationship with Severus and the merit of his son accompanying the search-
Once the Death Eaters were reorganized, Lucius's status would undoubtedly rise accordingly!
At this moment, they certainly needed to maintain good relations with him.
Not long after the Carrow siblings arrived, other Death Eaters from the same faction who had participated in funding Severus's search abroad gathered at Malfoy Manor one after another and saw the letter Severus had sent.
Their reactions were the same as the Carrows': first shock and stupor, then brief apprehension after realization, and finally, a self-justifying, ecstatic joy.
Although they had hedged their bets, with secretly contacting and funding Severus on one hand, while also having unclear dealings with Barty, helping him handle loose ends and evade Aurors-
If asked who they genuinely hoped would ultimately succeed, it was still Severus.
Because Severus's theory perfectly absolved them of any suspicion of disloyalty for choosing to compromise with the Ministry to preserve their family influence right after Voldemort's fall.
Moreover, Severus himself wasn't clean. These people didn't understand what sweet talk he had used to persuade Dumbledore to back him and clear his name, but such actions were clearly far more disloyal than their own past behavior.
The situation with Barty was completely different.
If Severus was a grasshopper on the same rope as them, then Barty was the preying mantis looking down from above!
If Barty were to find Voldemort, their past actions would definitely face repercussions. The extent of these repercussions would depend solely on Voldemort's mood.
But even in his best mood, at most, they would regain their former status from the Death Eater days, still subordinate to Barty, Bellatrix, and others.
The reason they still placed bets on Barty was simply fear of facing harsher punishment if he ultimately succeeded.
However, Severus's success was the complete opposite!
They became completely clean loyal retainers, while Barty and his lot were the fools who couldn't read the situation.
"How are the tasks Snape, no, Severus asked you to handle progressing!"
In their excitement, these Death Eaters naturally hadn't forgotten the tasks Severus had assigned them before leaving.
If Severus returned empty-handed, these matters could obviously be dragged out, postponed.
But now that Severus had become the most important figure in their Master's return, these matters, especially since Severus said they were closely related to their Master, could not be delayed for even a moment!
Lucius glanced at Nott, who had raised the question. This old, cunning fox had directly framed the tasks Severus assigned to all of them as being given to him alone.
Clearly, he had already prepared an excuse to shift all responsibility onto Lucius if Voldemort asked about the progress later.
"I haven't been idle for a moment. I've done everything that needs to be done."
He scanned everyone present.
"I just returned from Gringotts this morning. The goblins are clearly about to yield. As long as we get the relevant decree from the Ministry permitting the Lestrange vault inheritance, the matter is basically in the bag."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Rosier said in dissatisfaction.
Lucius slammed the table.
"Since when has this been my task alone!"
He looked coldly at everyone.
"My son went with Severus to find Master! The funds and resources sent out were temporarily advanced by me from the Malfoy vault on behalf of everyone! And now, the tasks assigned by Master are all being handled by me, running around tirelessly!"
"What about all of you? What have you contributed?"
"Surely no one actually thinks that by doing nothing and just watching, the credit and rewards will fall into their laps?"
The Death Eaters looked at each other. Finally, Crabbe, who was closer to Lucius, gave a dry laugh.
"Of course, that's not what we mean, Lucius. I think they asked about it to see if you're stuck on any particular point, if there's any area where we can assist."
The others also chimed in, explaining they only wanted to help and had no intention of reaping benefits without contributing any effort.
Lucius sat upright in his high-backed chair. He snorted coldly, as he knew these people's true nature better than anyone.
But clearly, now was not the time for internal strife. The Dark Lord hadn't even been seen in person yet. If they started fighting over benefit distribution internally, it would be truly disgraceful.
"You all know that the Malfoy Family's connections are primarily with the Hogwarts Board of Governors. I don't have a suitable contact at the Ministry, someone with the right position, to apply for the decree. I wonder if any of you have suitable candidates?"
As soon as Lucius finished speaking, old Nott spoke first.
"I have a few friends both in the Wizengamot and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This matter isn't a big deal anyway and is legal. I can have them get Bagnold to sign the decree tomorrow."
Hearing someone take responsibility for this matter, Lucius's expression softened somewhat.
He looked at those present and said leisurely,
"Master has just been found by Severus. If we want to restore our former influence and power, it will certainly take time to accumulate. During this period, Master will observe everyone's performance."
"When the day comes that we truly rule the Wizarding World, who contributed and who merely enjoyed the benefits, I believe Master will see far more clearly than we do ourselves."
Seeing Lucius's smug expression, the Death Eaters inwardly cursed him, but outwardly they all nodded in agreement, stating he was right.
As they were talking, the clock in the drawing room chimed precisely at ten o'clock.
Everyone turned their gaze towards the fireplace. As if their looks ignited the cold hearth, a cluster of green flames suddenly blazed within it.
The next second, a tall man clad in black robes stepped out of the flames.
Meeting the gaze of over a dozen pairs of eyes, Severus, who still carried a faint scent of roast meat, raised an eyebrow.
"Well, everyone's gathered quite completely tonight? How's the night snack at Malfoy Manor? Has anyone been fortunate enough to taste it?"
But at that moment, no one's attention was on his words. Instead, it was on the fact that no one else followed behind him.
A chorus of voices erupted.
"Where is Master! Where is he!"