Chapter 323: Institutional Exploration

"Imagine if Lucius declared himself the new Dark Lord—what then?" Zhang Qiu put down her pen and spoke with a faint, knowing smile.

"Would Voldemort want to kill him? Maybe not—but one thing is certain: Lucius would never refuse to do it. He's willing to take that risk." Harry's thoughts suddenly cleared, "And we can easily make Lucius believe Voldemort will kill him for this."

"Besides, I don't think you even need to do anything—Lucius was already planning to do this." Zhang Qiu chuckled, shaking her head, "It's just how things are. The situation is just how it is."

"You're absolutely right—we just need to express some agreement," Harry nodded.

Zhang Qiu resumed writing, and Harry noticed she was writing in long, dense paragraphs of Chinese. The last time she did this, she was plotting a complex time travel scheme—this made Harry feel a faint unease. Still, he chose to trust her and turned his thoughts instead to Lucius.

Harry quickly recalled a detail: during the duel on the tower, Dumbledore had said, "Who will be the next Dark Lord? Lucius? Or Regulus? Do you think they'll kill Delphi, just as you tried to kill Harry Potter fourteen years ago?"

Those words had enraged Voldemort terribly, nearly driving him mad. So which part of them had truly enraged him?

After slight analysis, Harry concluded that Lucius and Regulus (Sirius) harboring disloyalty wasn't surprising to Voldemort, nor was he deeply concerned about Delphi's safety—the real thing that sent Voldemort into a rage was his defeat at Harry Potter's hands.

Harry's understanding of Voldemort was limited to overheard meetings and a few brief confrontations. Given Lucius's deeper knowledge of Voldemort, would he also have realized that Voldemort didn't truly care if his followers had private ambitions? Would Lucius entertain the hopeful thought that even if Voldemort returned, he could simply surrender the throne and still keep his life—and even remain a high-ranking Death Eater?

This was indeed a problem worth considering—but at this stage, these very factors could serve as leverage. Before Lucius made his move, these elements could push him toward bold usurpation. But to make him fear Voldemort's return, we must withhold a key piece of information until after he's seized power—something that will shatter him completely.

This requires an information gap. What fact about Voldemort does Harry know that Lucius doesn't? Clearly—that's the identity of Ho Fa, and the truth about the seventh Horcrux.

After Lucius seizes power, would this fact make him realize—or at least be convinced—that Voldemort would surely kill him? Perhaps not.

So how exactly should this fact be used? Harry ended his further thinking with this new question, for he had to rise and go to dinner.

After dinner, Harry didn't dwell further on Lucius—he felt he'd exhausted his ideas and needed to discuss this with Sirius, or perhaps cast a spell to spark inspiration.

Of course, more importantly, he needed to spend serious time finishing his homework—that was the duty of a student.

On Sunday morning, Harry met Sirius early. Facing Harry's new problem, Sirius shrugged dismissively: "Don't worry, Harry—you came up with a brilliant plan in one night. I'm sure with more time, you'll perfect it."

"As for me," he said casually, "I'll oversee the construction of the Focused Rainbow—you can use it as your trump card and escape route."

Harry sighed helplessly. He knew his godfather might occasionally think things through, but expecting him to devise a clever scheme was still too much to ask.

After drinking another dose of Polyjuice Potion with a coffee flavor, Harry transformed his identity and entered the Death Eater meeting hall. As expected, Snape didn't come—and Slughorn was naturally absent. The focus of the meeting became the Ministry's special envoy.

She was a beautiful witch with golden, fluffy curls. Instead of dressing in the dark robes favored by Death Eaters, she wore a lace-trimmed white blouse and a floral three-quarter skirt—strikingly vibrant amid the gloomy gathering.

"Alright, let me introduce you," Lucius spoke naturally, "This is Dorothy Wainwright, the Ministry's political advisor. She'll help us organize our views, voice our opinions, and defend our rightful rights."

"Fine," Bellatrix drawled, "Setting aside business, at least you're beautiful—it lifts my mood."

Sirius glanced around the room, then immediately returned to the point: "I'm more interested in what you just said about organizing views—what views even need organizing?"

"We all know our ultimate goal is to resurrect the Dark Lord," Lucius said dismissively, "But we must consider: while the Dark Lord remains unrevived, how should we act? And if he never returns at all, we must secure our own positions."

"We should find the Horcruxes as soon as possible!" Bellatrix snapped. "I don't have time for this nonsense."

"But we still need to deal with Dumbledore," Harry added, feigning neutrality—yet dousing Bellatrix with cold water.

"Indeed," Lucius smiled contentedly, "If we can't resolve Dumbledore's problem, we dare not risk reviving the Dark Lord. And if we must remain in a delicate, covert rivalry with the Order for the long term, we'll need some established norms—or at least guarantees for our personal property."

"We could adopt a two-party system," Dorothy suddenly said.

"A two-party system?" Bellatrix blinked. "That's a novel idea."

"Not at all new—Muggles have used it for centuries," Dorothy replied. "I think you and the Order could easily form two parties."

"You may not know, but the Order has already established a formal system—though it borrows heavily from the Soviet model. Still, they're now a legitimate organization—or you could even call them a legitimate political party, with Dobby clearly as their leader."

"If they've done this, then you all could unite into a party as well. Not only would you continue competing with the Order in the same arena, but your most pressing concern—personal property—would be secured." Dorothy concluded.

"But the Dark Lord..." Bellatrix muttered.

"I'm merely making a suggestion," Dorothy immediately leaned back, unbothered. "I won't interfere in your internal affairs. If needed, I can even step aside."

Lucius's eyes darted shrewdly left and right; the Death Eaters fell silent. He then said, "Yes, let's discuss this internally. You may go have afternoon tea."

Dorothy walked out without hesitation, and the bulky Crabbe awkwardly tried to escort her.

"Now, let's properly discuss Miss Wainwright's proposal," Lucius said slowly. "First, it's undeniable: no matter what strategy we adopt, we must remain united."

"Do you even want to resurrect the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix demanded. "If our goals differ, how can we stay united?"

"Enough," Lucius sneered. "Do you really want to resurrect the Dark Lord? You just want to go back to ruling and bullying as before."

Bellatrix glared at him.

"Our goals are the same—we all want more power, a better life. You scream about resurrecting the Dark Lord only to seize control of the narrative..." Lucius shook his head. "Let's be honest: we're all using the Dark Lord to seize benefits. You just lack my finesse—you insist he stay alive."

"I've already thought of a suitable system: oligarchy," Lucius said coldly. "The Dark Lord is our trump card, but we needn't resort to any means or pay any cost to revive him. Beyond that, let's genuinely refine our organizational structure—this way, we can still use his name to pursue our goals, with little resistance."

Harry felt something was off. Lucius didn't seem to be planning to become the next Dark Lord—he still intended to maintain this meeting. Indeed, Lucius wasn't foolish: as chairman, he could enjoy all the Dark Lord's privileges while avoiding any loyalty to Voldemort.

But as Ho Fa, he could only chant "Resurrect Voldemort"—Harry grew anxious.

At that moment, Sirius nudged Harry's foot under the table.

Harry hesitated briefly, then immediately said, "What you're doing is wrong—are you planning to completely abandon the Dark Lord?"

After a brief silence, Sirius began speaking: "I don't insist on resurrecting Voldemort—but isn't this ridiculous? We gathered under the Dark Lord's name, yet now you want to abandon him?"

"Bellatrix, if you betray the Dark Lord, how many Death Eaters will follow you?" Sirius struck Bellatrix's weak point. "And you, Lucius—if not for the Dark Lord, I wouldn't even want to see you."

"If you insist on playing politics, then let's just break up," Sirius said, pushing his chair back and placing both feet on the table. "Ho Fa, you study stealing Horcruxes. I'll go work on a canning factory with Grime—sounds fine too."

"If we break up, we'll face the Order's purge!" Lucius's voice carried a hint of anger. "If you have a plan, just say it outright—don't talk like this."