Traitorous-Friend-Indeed (I) [Chapter 245]

~~Nott Manor~~

Voldemort slowly rolled his shoulder and a grimace appeared on his face. His busted shoulder still ached in pain. He had no idea the Spell Harry had used to injure him, and that irked him to no end. He was certain that the Spell was Dark Arts, but the Spell was unknown to him and he prided himself to be the best in Dark Arts. The slight was not acceptable.

However, he failed to find the said Curse in any of his tomes… That irked him even more. Since he was unable to find the Curse Harry had used to hurt him, he had to heal in the normal way… Thankfully, the spike stopped growing inside him after he left the Wards of the Bones Manor. That thought seemed to anger him even more… He was frantically frothing in his mouth, but there was nothing he could do.

Then he turned toward his Wand arm and grimaced again… His Wand hand was completely healed since his Wand hand wasn’t cursed, but he could still feel the phantom pains from when his hand was crushed by… Voldemort felt his temper flare to unimaginable levels, but he quickly slammed his Occlumency Shields, knowing that losing his temper wasn’t going to help him.

He needed to think about everything with a clear mind… Harry Potter was not just a common enemy. He was better than anyone he had ever faced… He would admit that Harry Potter was not someone he imagined. The boy was ruthless to boot and he was equally wicked. He could respect that, but that didn’t mean he would have to like that.

What was even worse was the fact that he simply didn’t lose to a boy only a fifth of age, he lost to a boy only a fifth of age in front of his followers, and it wasn’t even a fight. The boy was simply playing with him… He was planning to return the favor in spades, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t incensed. However, now that he had faced the boy, he knew that he couldn’t face him again without a trump card of his own.

He expected the boy to be inexperienced, but the boy proved himself to be a formidable foe when it came to experience. The boy knew how to use his Magic and the boy was impossibly powerful too… Voldemort wanted that power for himself, but at the same time, he wanted to take it after beating him. His ego wouldn’t accept anything less.

Thankfully, he still possessed his Wand… The boy never bothered to take his Wand away from him or maybe, he simply allowed him to keep the Wand to give him a fair chance… No! No! He needed to keep a clear mind. It wouldn’t do if he lost his temper… He had other important things to worry about, like the brand on his Soul and his precious Horcruxes.

He had inspected his Soul and he had discovered something foreign sticking to his Soul and while he wasn’t sure what it was, he decided to trust Harry on this… However, that wasn’t the end of his problems. The boy knew about his Horcruxes… He decided to place the blame on Lucius’ shoulders for that. The man was going to pay for his foolish plans, but not yet, he was passing information whenever he could.

He needed to check on them… After all, the boy knew that he had made more than one, but he wasn’t sure if he should. The boy might have tried to bluff him… Revealing their existence would urge him to check on them and he would be leading the boy straight to them, so the best course of action for him was to send a Death Eater to inspect them, but he didn’t trust any of them.

All of his most trusted followers were either dead or still recovering from their stint in Azkaban… If he was being honest, he was missing Snape’s expertise in Potions. If the said man was here, then they would have been recovering much faster, but he had to work with common Healers and Potion Masters… Maybe, he should use the family of a competent Healer to force them to work for him.

Yes… That might work. He really needed a good Healer in his corner…

After some time, he finally decided on a course of action… He decided to check on the Diadem. He didn’t believe that any of the students would be smart enough to realize what it was and he was planning to contact a student directly. It wouldn’t do if one of his followers decided to poke their nose where it didn’t belong.

With his mind made up, he decided to pen a letter to Theodore Nott Jr. With Dumbledore and Snape gone, he was sure that there were going to be no issues, but then he remembered that the school was closed and it wasn’t going to open until the school was repaired… He considered Hogwarts his home and that was another reason why he hated Potter and his followers.

Once again, he faced the same problem… He couldn’t visit the school to check the Diadem or the boy might discover the location… He wasn’t even sure if the boy could locate him even if he was living under the Fidelius Charm. He did know someone he could send to recover the Diadem and go completely unseen, but he wasn’t sure if he trusted the man.

After pondering for quite some time, he simply released a long-drawn sigh… He simply decided to summon Pettigrew and give him the task. He was a cowardly man, and that ensured that the man wouldn’t try to run away… Knowing Harry Potter was still looking for him, the man would return to him since he didn’t have any other option.

Maybe, he would need to remind the man that his fate would be quite gruesome if Harry Potter found him…

~~Malfoy Manor~~

Meanwhile, Harry, who was lying beside Tonks, smirked ferally…