"My anger at the time was like an unquenchable, fierce fire, vowing to burn everything to ashes. I loudly questioned Black, asking him why he betrayed me. But he responded with only a burst of insane laughter and a Cruciatus Curse…"
Peter Pettigrew was speaking eloquently on the stage, with enthusiastic applause coming from the audience from time to time. These days, he had been invited by various media outlets to briefly describe the thrilling battle of that year, just like Lockhart not long ago. He suddenly became a hot star.
Such speeches almost filled his schedule, with no time to rest from morning till night.
"Phew." Peter Pettigrew breathed a long sigh of relief in the backstage dressing room. This was his way of relaxing after a long speech. He was becoming more and more accustomed to his current life, and he was increasingly intoxicated by the countless fame and fortune surrounding him. He could clearly remember the adoring gazes everyone gave him, and there were even young and beautiful witches who were secretly flirting with him. He longed to live like this forever.
However, that was impossible. He had chosen to betray in the past, but today he was still enjoying the glory, which meant that he might have to pay even more for it.
Such as guilt and the helplessness of being controlled.
The former represented his remaining conscience, while the latter symbolized that he was not as relaxed as he seemed.
"You seem to be living quite well these days, Peter Pettigrew." The voice of a teenager in the midst of puberty sounded a little hoarse, but it made Peter's body tremble suddenly.
"Looks like you've forgotten our agreement. What? Have you become addicted to being a hero and need me to remind you?" The voice behind Peter Pettigrew made him feel cold from the bottom of his heart. This was a student who held the lifeline of his existence.
"No, no, I wouldn't dare to forget." Peter Pettigrew immediately straightened his back in the direction of the voice.
Malfoy slowly walked out from behind a silver-framed full-length mirror, appearing in front of Peter Pettigrew and scrutinizing him.
"Then please give me an explanation. What are you doing with your time these days? What's the point of wasting precious time on these meaningless speeches?" Malfoy's voice was cold, but Peter Pettigrew could hear the suppressed anger beneath the coldness. If he couldn't give a satisfactory answer, Malfoy's desperately suppressed anger would instantly erupt and devour him.
"There are too many teachers around Harry. I can't find any opportunity. He doesn't even have absolute trust in me right now, and his two companions are always inseparable from him. I have no chance to attack at all." Peter Pettigrew said in a panic, with a trace of resentment also growing in his frightened heart.
He was clearly enjoying unlimited glory now, so why was this boy acting like a madman, targeting Harry and even trying to find that person?
Peter Pettigrew's mind could not comprehend it at all. He advocated the philosophy of attaching himself to the strong. He didn't have too deep of an insistence on justice and evil, otherwise he wouldn't have betrayed his good friends who treated him like a brother in the first place. His current behavior was even completely slandering Sirius Black, and he had usurped the honor that should have belonged to him.
The student in front of him usually looked very calm, but once that person was mentioned, his eyes seemed to be lit with flames, full of fanaticism.
"We must avenge the Dark Lord and clear all obstacles for him before welcoming his return."
He recalled Malfoy's expression when he gave him the task, like a complete madman.
God, were they driven crazy by the pursuit of pure-blood status?
Wasn't the current situation good? Everyone was living in peace and harmony. The person whose name must not be spoken was probably already dead. The Boy Who Lived had successfully defeated the most evil dark wizard in history.
Malfoy actually fantasized about welcoming back the Dark Lord. How unbelievable was that?
Peter Pettigrew was afraid. He couldn't bear to part with his current glamorous life. Why should he take such a big risk to find that declining, even dead, Dark Lord?
"It would be best to kidnap the so-called Savior. If you can't kidnap him, kill him, and then find the Dark Lord and let him return to rule the current wizarding world."
That was Malfoy's mission for him, briefly summarized. The more detailed division, implemented in practice, was for him to become a hero, eliminate everyone's vigilance, gradually gain Harry's trust, and finally launch a surprise attack.
Looking at Peter Pettigrew's terrified face, Malfoy had almost figured out his psychology: Peter Pettigrew, who coveted comfort, was already reluctant to part with everything in front of him.
This was exactly what he needed.
As for the mission, of course, he was lying to him. So much of what Malfoy had done before was precisely to completely eliminate Voldemort. If Peter Pettigrew was really a fanatic like Barty Crouch Jr., Malfoy would not have treated him like this.
Setting such a task was based on his grasp of Peter's cowardly character. More precisely, the current behavior of Peter Pettigrew was exactly what Malfoy needed.
Think about it, who would have the courage to give up everything and take on the infamy again when they were in the spotlight and enjoying glory, just to gamble on a vague possibility?
No normal person would be willing to do that, let alone Peter Pettigrew—a complete coward.
Peter Pettigrew was being duplicitous with Malfoy, but wasn't Malfoy doing the same?
Ravenclaw's Diadem, Slytherin's Locket, these remaining Horcruxes were all in fixed positions, ready to be destroyed at any time, but what about Nagini?
This snake and Voldemort were lurking in the forests of Albania, waiting for the opportunity.
Malfoy could reveal everything right now, and even solve the problem of Barty Crouch Jr., who was probably still being controlled by the Imperius Curse day and night in his own home.
But Voldemort was still very likely to suddenly appear at some point in the future.
Malfoy wouldn't naively think that the resurrection spell only existed in one form: the bone of the father, the flesh of the servant, and the blood of the enemy? Just kidding, that might just be a better option in Voldemort's eyes. Never underestimate a talented and determined person. Even if all known methods were blocked, Voldemort might create an even more evil resurrection method.
If Voldemort really found an opportunity, did something like a thousand-person blood sacrifice, a ten-thousand-person blood sacrifice, and made a comeback, he would no longer have any advantage.
At least the current Malfoy could still rely on some pre-emptive advantages to take many measures against Voldemort.
On the surface, Malfoy still had to act the whole part. The enemy he faced was one of the strongest Legilimens in the world. What was even more terrifying was that Voldemort had no bottom line, which made his magic even more terrifying.
If he wanted to, he could scan through a person's entire life in the blink of an eye.
You couldn't expect Voldemort to have such a thing as a sense of privacy. When he wanted to know something, he wouldn't politely ask you. He was good at finding the answer himself—by using his most proud magic to have a panoramic view of your memories.
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