The Older Potter // HP Older Sister

98

C H A P T E R 98

If those who saw Grimmauld Place thought it was eerie, they would not know what to think about Malfoy Manor.

The gigantic mansion was nothing short to show just how wealthy the Malfoy family was. It was home to dozens of old and valuable antiques....and it was also home to recent Death Eater meetings hosted by Lucius Malfoy himself.

They had to be discreet, quick, yet beneficial. If they were to only meet at very specific times, each meeting had to discuss important information.

With work at the Ministry, Lucius found it hard to focus his attention on what he really wanted to: the Dark Lord and his return.

Everything was falling into place. He had taken control of the return when he found his master deep in the Albania forest ready to come back.....even stronger. It was not easy to track down his old friends and fellow followers but with a few trips, Lucius had almost everyone back. Luckily, he had the help of Jacob Flint who had kept ties with those who had gone into hiding.

Flint, Benjamin Goyle, Lyle Crabbe, Andrew Nott, and Walden Macnair were already sitting around a very long table in Lucius' dining room. They were chatting about any recent events since the last meeting they had right before the attack at the Quidditch World Cup.

They were waiting on a few others and as Lucius looked over at the large Grandfather clock, he saw that time was dwindling until they were set to meet.....and the Dark Lord did not like to be kept waiting.

Just then, two more had appeared in Lucius' private Floo Network which he had created right under Fudge's nose this past summer. It was Alecto and Amycus Carrow and they each gave everyone a nod and sat down at the end of the table.

"Splendid," Lucius Malfoy spoke as he caught everyone's attention. "So far from Hogwarts, we are on set for June. Both Potters are under the binding magical contract and under the most intense pressure and stress of their lives. All we need is to keep up this pace until the third task where it will be made sure that Harry and Samantha reach the portkey," he said smoothly and reiterated what Moody had updated. Moody had also said to Lucius that Samantha was starting to become wary of him.

"The older Potter is indeed clever," Lucius continued as he briefly mentioned Samantha and her reservations with Moody. "But she is also very irrational. We need to keep her mind off of Moody so there is no other chance for this plan to foil."

"How do we do that? We're not at Hogwarts," Alecto Carrow wondered. "We can't even be eyes and ears like Crouch."

Lucius stayed silent. He had one option of his son but Draco was still a bit too young to be roped into all of this. He had high hopes for his son but not yet. Draco would be their last resort.

"We need someone Samantha knows. Someone we can easily manipulate," Lucius uttered aloud as he continued to think of ways to not get the Potter to foil their plans. This was their golden opportunity for the Dark Lord to return. "We already lost a chance when that wretched rat Pettigrew didn't escape and got himself caught." Lucius didn't want to go back to the Dark Lord without a plan....and he didn't want a last minute resort plan with Draco who wasn't even in place to distract Samantha. "And it's not like any of your sons are close to Samantha right?" Lucius asked he nodded towards Jacob Flint, Benjamin Goyle, Lyle Crabbe, and Andrew Nott.

Goyle, Crabbe, and Nott shook their heads as they were in the same position as Lucius with Draco. Their boys were Harry's age and in no place to all of a sudden befriend Samantha to distract her from piecing together Moody's plan.

"And you Jacob? Isn't Marcus Samantha's age?" Lucius asked as a spark of hope started to form.

Jacob shrugged. "They are indeed the same age but Marcus left Hogwarts two years ago. I can ask him but she's the one he cursed when he got expelled. So unless my boy is very good at apologizing, I don't think they're in a good place."