A Hop Skip And A Jump Away

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Unlike in the previous timeline Voldemort chose to call everyone who bore his mark rather than simply what remained of the inner circle. He knew that many were still imprisoned in Azkaban or dead, just as he knew that to receive the Dark Mark one must be completely willing and fully committed. Harry hissed in pain at the same time as Severus did their pains coming from mark and scar respectfully as Voldemort used a large chunk of magic to call those sworn to his service.

Voldemort was a bit annoyed to realize that the two wizards he planned to have for the rest of eternity were hurt by one of the more basic parsel charms that he had crafted. Yet he was also pleased that they were so close to him emotionally and magically as to feel it. He silently started plotting the next stage of wooing both of his fellow travelers and wondered if Nagini would be willing to help. He also planned to figure out just why the charm had hurt them and fix it. He would be damned if a simple spell like that hurt his two precious companions whenever it was used if he could help it.

They came in twos and threes and over the course of the next hour the field seemed to fill. To avoid hurting Harry and Severus more than necessary Voldemort had stopped calling everyone through the mark after about five minutes, they still had a decent turn out. He supposed that many of them were there to find out if he was still the same insane bastard as before. The Death Eaters were lucky that he was sane again or most of them would be in large amounts of pain for not trying to help him sooner.

"Before we begin," Voldemort called out, standing and immediately silencing the muttering over both being called and the fact that he had Harry and Severus seated to either side of his throne. "I am willing to release anyone from their oath of service and remove the Dark Mark if I can be given a decent reason why. I will only offer this for the next two weeks and may require that you finish any on-going assignments before removing the mark. I am also granting a general amnesty for anything you have done against me in the past except in certain cases on the condition that from now on any reports are perfectly truthful and that you put forward your best. I am aware of how... unstable I have been in the past and the issue has been fixed. For that you can thank the two men behind me, Harry Potter and Severus Snape. Those who wish to have no more to do with our organization please gather at the left of the dais so that we can place privacy charms as everyone else reaffirms their loyalty."

They looked at him in stunned silence for a moment before sorting themselves out into those leaving his service and those remaining.

"Are we going to do something about the Death Eater's in Azkaban?" Harry asked while everyone sorted themselves out.

"I'm not certain. I would have had to kill more than one of them even with my new policies but I plan to try and get pardons for most of my people," Voldemort admitted, freezing more than one person who was heading for the side of the dias as they reconsidered if they wanted to stay. Voldemort had never tried to get them absolved of their crimes before so what had changed?

"Bellatrix needs treatment by a mind healer but while there were a decent number fighting for their rights there were also those who crossed the line. I recommend that we arrange for a general amnesty except for certain crimes at a later time when we have a better handle on the situation," Severus recommended.

"Why are we discussing this in front of everyone?" Harry asked confused as he realized that the Death Eaters were listening to their conversation.

"Because you brought it up and it needed to be addressed, at least initially," Severus said dryly. "There's also the fact that you are sufficiently distracting for us not to remember to put up privacy charms for every random question you spout. Incidentally can you see properly yet?"

"Oh, um, oops?" Harry said sheepishly much to the amusement of his housemates. "Er, yeah, I've been able see alright since before we got dressed, actually I can see the back of the clearing now."