Chapter 364: Letting the Tiger Return to the Mountain

"I... I..."

"We'll give you twenty minutes to calm down." Sirius said, and walked out of the room first.

Harry followed the two adults step by step; he felt that everything that happened today was a bit hasty. For example, they had never planned to really catch Bellatrix, so now that Bellatrix was bluffed, how to make her cooperate became a matter for discussion.

"According to the original plan," after turning into a conference room, Sirius said, "we deliberately let Bellatrix escape; she will pin her hope on the election. We need to let her lose composure in front of the Death Eaters... or at least show a sign of defeat in public, so that we can peacefully transition the Death Eaters who originally obeyed her to Harry."

"That wasn't the main part of the plan." Snape shook his head. "What's important is to use the action here to cover for my control of Nagini. As long as the election is successfully completed, the transition we want can be achieved. It doesn't matter how Bellatrix performs during the election."

"But the election still needs to be completed, right." Sirius shrugged. "According to that, now that you have also controlled Nagini, we just need to release Bellatrix and require her to come to run for office on time."

"No, although whether Bellatrix runs for office is not the key to victory." Snape shook his head. "But if we require her to run for office, that is truly burying the great situation."

"Bellatrix also understands that very simple principle: the more the enemy opposes, the more it shows she is doing the right thing; and the more the enemy hopes she does so, the more she cannot do it. She might even suspect why we are so confident that we can win the election? What if she deduces that we have already taken action against Nagini? Then it would all be in vain." Harry said thoughtfully.

"That is to say, we must think of a decent reason, making it seem like we originally planned to catch her and make her do something." Sirius summarized. "This is to confuse her, letting her not think that we have played a winning hand in the election."

"This is just one thing; another reason I hope to let Bellatrix go is," Snape lowered his voice, "to let her be active in Europe, which can help us attract the attention of foreign forces."

"Active in Europe?" Sirius frowned. "Aren't you afraid she will counterattack Britain?"

"It's best if she doesn't think so. However, if we are destined to have a war with her, then it's best to move the location of the war and the source of the troops to Europe."

Harry wanted to say this would provide an opportunity for Yanayev, but on second thought, if they were destined to have a war with Yanayev, then similarly, fighting in Europe was better than fighting at home in the future.

"This isn't very good." Sirius shook his head; he didn't seem to approve of this idea.

"You'll be hard-pressed to find a better way, Regulus." Snape raised his eyebrows. "We can both obtain the allegiance of all Death Eaters, and resist the prying of foreign forces, and also cooperate with Muggles to weaken the EU."

"Now there is another pressing matter: Rodolphus." Harry reminded. "He is ready to launch a war in advance at any time."

"And you didn't consider Delphini just now." Sirius pointed behind him. "We all know that letting this child follow Bellatrix has no benefits, but if Bellatrix loses Delphini, I'm afraid she won't have much mood to act according to your plan."

"Then we'll have to prepare for a showdown." Snape suddenly said. "We'll let her hand over the cup, and use the cup to exchange for Delphini."

"But, isn't the cup already in our hands?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Precisely because of this, Bellatrix will never be able to produce the cup, and we can keep Delphini forever." Snape explained somewhat arrogantly.

"Right, this way, not only did we release Bellatrix back to Rodolphus's side, but we also kept Delphini, and Bellatrix still has a great possibility of coming to run for office." Harry's happy expression gradually solidified. "Oh, but I remember, it seems Elina has already admitted to robbing Gringotts..."

"It doesn't matter; she will find out sooner or later, but by then she should also understand: the one who stole the cup was from the White House, the one who provided guidance was the Soviets, but the beneficiary was us." Snape said coldly. "International support, plus the Dark Lord's legitimacy has fallen into Harry's hands, and the Horcrux no longer poses a threat to us; she has already been defeated completely. If she still wants to return to the poker table at this time, the only way is to develop Saints and try to form a confrontation with us by force."

"And this is what you wanted, the way to let Bellatrix attract Yanayev's attention?" Harry's mood was somewhat complicated. "Also, Yanayev, who was hoping for a big war, will definitely fan the flames..."

"He hopes to use Bellatrix to force our hand, but Delphini is still in our hands; Bellatrix won't be in a rush to start a war, she will certainly prioritize opening negotiations. Furthermore, if Yanayev starts supporting Bellatrix, the White House will naturally support us," Snape said. "A Bellatrix supported by the Soviet Union is still better than the Soviet Union stepping in personally. We can have plenty of room for maneuver, and besides, the homeland, unaffected by war, can also continue to develop."

Harry didn't object; he knew in his heart that this would hurt the wizards in Europe, but for Britain, this was already the optimal solution.

Sirius also acquiesced to Snape's decision, so the three of them caught the timing of twenty minutes and walked into the room where Bellatrix was being held again.

"What do you want me to cooperate with?" Bellatrix looked much calmer.

"Let Rodolphus disband the Saints and hand over the cup." Snape said.

"That's impossible!" Sure enough, when Bellatrix heard this order, her first reaction was to refuse.

"Then, we will lock you in Azkaban and set up an ambush in your cell." Sirius said, using the trick the Soviets had used on him. "If Rodolphus wants to break out of prison, we can take the opportunity to catch him again. Of course, if it gets to that step, regardless of success or failure, you will never want to see Delphini again in this life."

Bellatrix lowered her head in silence. For a time, there was only the slight snoring sound made by Delphini while sleeping in the room.

Or perhaps, it was this snoring sound that prompted her to make up her mind. Bellatrix raised her head, her gaze firm, and said: "Fine, I agree to your terms."

"Then I will let you go now, until you have completed everything we require." Sirius said, hardening his heart. "We will allow you to see Delphini again."

"You have no choice, Bellatrix; you have already lost." Snape added. "Everything you do next is just to make your loss look a little better."

It wasn't until they brought Bellatrix to the reception room where Apparition could be released and watched her leave in silence that Harry breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly: "Then what about Delphini?"

"Find a pair of kind Muggle couples to adopt her." Snape said casually. "Keep her under surveillance, but allow her to spend a relatively free childhood in the Muggle world until Hogwarts writes her a letter."

"Then you must carefully examine the family that adopts her." Harry recalled his days at the Dursleys'; he didn't want other children to suffer the same torture.

"Before I find them, perhaps I have to ask Tonks—uh, Tonks is also just a girl herself." Sirius scratched his head. "Have to let Kreacher take care of her."

After a brief silence, Snape grabbed Harry's arm. "Then I'll take Harry back first. Too many things happened tonight; I think I should let him have a good sleep."

After returning to Hogwarts, Snape looked at Harry again, somewhat disappointed. "I thought you were enough to suppress her; it seems not."

"Sorry, sir." Harry didn't know what to say, and could only apologize.

"I also thought you could stay in school; it seems not either." Snape stared at Harry. "However, I don't intend to pursue this matter. Deng Buliduo isn't sitting in the office forever either; the problem is just that you don't have Deng Buliduo-like strength yet."

"Sorry, sir, I..."

"Next year you need to take the advanced classes for Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions cannot be left behind." At this moment, Snape, like a proper Headmaster, was planning the curriculum for Harry. "And you need to come to my office every Saturday to try learning and attempting some Dark Magic under my supervision, understand?"

"Dark Magic?"

"Try not to use it, but you can't not know it." Snape picked up Grindelwald's notebook from the side. "You perhaps haven't noticed that a considerable part of the magic in this notebook was completed by Deng Buliduo and Grindelwald together."

"In short, I will find a way to help you grow in strength as soon as possible," Snape waved his wand, and the door of the Headmaster's office opened. "Now you go back first."

Harry walked out of the office with a complicated mood. He saw the wall opposite the paintings was empty, and he knew in his heart that the celebration of Deng Buliduo's Army had ended. So, he walked straight back to the dormitory.

"You're back?" Ron said somewhat uneasily. "The old bat kept you for so long; what does he mean?"

"Oh, that's fine; we talked about other things." Harry sat on his bed. His brain was in a mess, and he felt a vague sense of unease.

"Other things?" Neville asked. "Are you still going to the Ministry of Magic?"

"Yes." Harry was thinking about the election at this moment; after all, the election was prepared to be held at the Ministry of Magic.

"Then, can I go together?" Neville's tone had a pleading meaning. "I want to obtain that thing Deng Buliduo left for me."

"Don't disrupt the Professor's plan." Harry said somewhat dejectedly. "Let's find another opportunity." ===== CHAPTER 365 =====