Chapter 259: Three Principles

"It's just that the ring is in the hands of the Order of the Phoenix," Lu Xiusi changed the subject. "We must find a way to make them hand over the ring."

Harry's brow twitched. Do the Death Eaters not know that the ring has already been destroyed?

"And, before today, the Dark Lord never told us about the existence of Hofa," Lu Xiusi nodded slightly. "He kept things from us, but could it be that he also kept things from Hofa? Did he actually make eight or nine Horcruxes?"

"I'm very sorry I'm late," Snape suddenly walked in from outside the door. "The Ministry of Magic was discussing teacher appointments with me."

"They passed Educational Decree Number Twenty-Two, allowing the Ministry of Magic to recommend candidates for professor positions at Hogwarts," Snape said coldly as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"That's unreasonable," Sirius said, frowning.

"First of all, it's just a recommendation; the Headmaster has the right to veto," Snape said. "Secondly, I really don't know where to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor right now."

"Then who did they recommend?" Lu Xiusi asked curiously.

"Don't know, seems to be an old guy, said he'd teach for a year and then leave," Snape said indifferently. "Anyway, we don't care if the students have learned how to defend against Dark Magic, do we?"

Harry felt very angry when he heard this, but then he thought, if all the Death Eaters who use Dark Magic are eliminated, then whether the students have learned Dark Magic naturally becomes irrelevant.

"We were just talking about the Horcruxes and resurrecting the Dark Lord," Bellatrix said discontentedly. "You have to find a way to steal the ring from the Order of the Phoenix."

"It's not that easy," Snape looked at her coldly, then turned and asked, "Who is this?"

"This is Hofa, the Dark Lord's childhood sidekick, who is responsible for guarding the last Horcrux," Lu Xiusi explained naturally, as if he were the one who knew Hofa best.

Harry glanced at Snape; he was a bit nervous, so he didn't speak.

"Since that's the case, I might as well introduce everyone to you again," Lu Xiusi said to Harry in a friendly tone. "You mentioned that the Dark Lord intended to make seven Horcruxes, but so far we have only found six."

"The three most ancient and noble pure-blood families are the Dark Lord's most powerful supporters, each guarding one Horcrux," Lu Xiusi said proudly, and Bella didn't interrupt him. "I, Lu Xiusi Malfoy; then this one, Bellatrix Lestrange; and the one you already know, Regulus Black."

"Next is the most powerful wizard under the Dark Lord, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Severus Snape, who also possesses a Horcrux," Lu Xiusi continued the introduction, and Snape just hummed softly. "Plus his most secret dark agent, which is you, Hofa Bach, that makes five in total. And then, unfortunately, the Horcrux that the Dark Lord secretly hid somewhere was inadvertently mastered by his enemy—the Order of the Phoenix."

Harry was slightly surprised to hear Lu Xiusi acknowledge Snape as the most powerful wizard under the Dark Lord, but thinking about it, over the years, the Death Eaters had either indulged in extravagant noble lives or been locked in Azkaban, which indeed couldn't compare to Snape, who had stayed by Deng Buliduo's side and studied magic at all times.

"Now our top priority is how to find the last Horcrux," Lu Xiusi said calmly, as if he knew nothing about the diary. "Everyone can try their best to collect various clues and then discuss them at this meeting."

"Next, I want to talk about Florean. As everyone knows, he is a half-blood wizard. Handing over the magical world's cold drink business to this person with half-Muggle blood is undoubtedly very unsettling," Lu Xiusi proposed. "How about we force him out and replace him with a reassuring operator, such as the Flint or Bulstrode family?"

"As you wish," Bellatrix said lazily.

"Then, Regulus, would it be convenient for you to let the Death Eaters under your command go and give him some trouble?" Lu Xiusi proposed. "After it's done, we will concede 10% of the shares to the Black family."

Harry could feel Sirius kicking his foot under the table.

"Is this what you discuss every day?" Harry stood up, patting the table as he caught on. "Shouldn't the top priority now be resurrecting the Dark Lord?"

"It's not that urgent," Antonin, who had been snapped at once before, spoke up again. "Deng Buliduo is gone now, we have nothing to fear."

"I'm not in the mood to chat with you about ice cream. I'm going to find the last Horcrux now," Harry stood up. "If I find it, you hand over all the Horcruxes and resurrect Tom as soon as possible."

"I said only I can call him by that name!" Bellatrix yelled, but she suddenly calmed down again. "But I think you're right. If you find it, we'll discuss a plan to steal the ring from the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible. If that doesn't work, then we'll go to full-scale war."

"War is unnecessary," Lu Xiusi said firmly. "We must use negotiation."

Bellatrix snorted coldly, "Anyway, you can't field many troops either."

"I also oppose the use of force; my subordinates are starting to get a bit addicted to a stable life," Sirius stood up and stretched. "But I don't want to chat about the cold drink industry either. Hofa and I are going to find the Horcrux."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Antonin said discontentedly.

"We are all loyal to the Dark Lord, why bother distinguishing between sides?" Snape said sarcastically.

"This is very good, very good, we have a clear division of labor," Lu Xiusi said with a sneer. "Then the situation is very clear. We will continue to discuss how to win over other pure-blood families. Those who want to leave can leave; just remember to arrive on time for the next meeting."

Sirius walked out without looking back. Harry paused slightly, then followed him out. They walked straight into the fireplace, and then with a 'poof', returned to Sirius's office.

"Did you understand?" Sirius asked. "Last time it was Lu Xiusi and Bella arguing."

"Yes, Bella truly wants to resurrect Voldemort, but Lu Xiusi doesn't think so, and he has also won over Antonin," Harry said. "This is easy to understand; the operations of both Malfoys are exactly the same. I recognized it at a glance."

"Oh?" Sirius looked at him with interest.

"Lu Xiusi wants to maintain the relationships between the Death Eaters so that these people can be used by him, but he doesn't want anyone above him," Harry said. "So he used the search for the Horcruxes to gather everyone together, and then started presiding over the meetings. By presiding and presiding, he became the leader, and the Horcruxes will naturally never be gathered."

"Makes a lot of sense, I hadn't thought of that layer before," Sirius said. "I thought he was just simply afraid of fighting."

"Clearly, Lu Xiusi easily won over Antonin, who has the shallowest foundation, and as a Hogwarts governor, even if Snape doesn't support him, he at least won't oppose him," Harry discovered that Sirius's amount of thinking might not be as much as his, so he continued. "Originally, only Bella could rival him, but Bella clearly has no ideas of her own. Given time, she will definitely be led by the nose by Lu Xiusi."

"According to that, Hofa joining today made things very difficult for him all of a sudden?" Sirius stroked his chin. "Should I strongly support you?"

"It won't do any good. Hofa has no foundation here, and if you oppose him, you have to solve the ring issue, which would turn into supporting Bella," Harry shook his head. "Let's not get tangled up in our own lies. Whether we collect the Horcruxes or not, Voldemort cannot be resurrected. What we need to do is use this lie to handle the current situation."

"Then what should we do?" Sirius looked a bit confused too. "Should I support prioritizing dealing with the Death Eaters in the Order of the Phoenix, and then support Lu Xiusi among the Death Eaters?"

"I'm a bit dizzy too. Let's sort it out. First, we all know the truth of the matter: Voldemort cannot be resurrected, and the lie about the Horcruxes and the painting is to deter foreigners," Harry sat down and picked up a piece of parchment. "Then the first principle is very clear: we cannot expose this lie ourselves."

"The second principle is: we must try our best to avoid a war between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. This plays right into Yanayev's hands, and more importantly, there will be many deaths and injuries."

"The third principle is: on the premise that the first two principles are not broken, we must preserve the British wizarding power as much as possible and vigorously develop the level of magic to avoid falling behind in technology."

Harry finished writing these three principles and looked at Sirius again. This godfather picked up the parchment and pondered for a while, then sighed: "Too troublesome, but it's the only way."

"Right, so we can never let the Horcruxes be gathered, but we can't fulfill Lu Xiusi's wish, and we still have to deal with him," Sirius added a fourth principle. "Correct and avoid all harm the Death Eaters cause to innocent people."

"But how to deal with him," Sirius sighed again. "Opposing him will cause Bella to start collecting Horcruxes; supporting him will make it impossible to stop him from harming the public."

"Use him," Harry said. "When he is a bit smug, let the Order of the Phoenix put some pressure on him; when Bella is a bit smug, appropriately support Lu Xiusi. These are just means. More importantly, what goal should we strive toward? What kind of wizarding world do we want, and in this world, what positions should Lu Xiusi and Bella occupy?"

"In Azkaban, without a doubt," Sirius blurted out. ===== CHAPTER 260 =====