Chapter 438: Continuous Testing

"Not safe enough..." Voldemort repeated slowly, his voice low but clear, as chilling as a snake's tongue passing through one's ears. His scarlet eyes locked onto Snape's black eyes, his gaze so sharp that it seemed to pierce through one's soul.

The people around him lowered their heads, and some even turned their heads away to avoid the terrifying gaze, as if they were afraid that they would be burned by it. However, Snape remained motionless, facing Voldemort's gaze expressionlessly, with undisguised honesty in his dark eyes.

After a brief and suffocating silence, the corners of Voldemort's mouth slowly curved into a strange arc, revealing an elusive smile.

"Severus, take a seat," he pointed to the empty seat on the right, "This is the seat I specially reserved for you. Welcome back to the Death Eaters."

Amid the envious, jealous, and sarcastic gazes of the crowd, Snape bowed slightly and then sat down gently at the right hand side of Voldemort.

"Severus, you just said that Sebastian has never let down his guard against you. What about Dumbledore? How does he treat you?"

"Sir, in order to fight against Dumbledore, I contacted him and agreed to be his undercover agent. I told you about this, and you should still remember it. After you disappeared, he recruited me to be a professor at Hogwarts. I have worked diligently over the years, so he still trusts me very much."

Snape smiled slightly and said, "Sir, now that you have been resurrected, I would like to ask for your opinion on where I should go in the future."

"Should I stay with you and brew potions for you? Or should I stay in Hogwarts and take advantage of Dumbledore's trust and wait for an opportunity?"

"What is your wish, Severus?" Voldemort looked at Snape with a smile, as if to let you make your own decision.

"My Lord," Snape bowed his head slightly, "your will is my will."

"Very good," Voldemort nodded, seeming very satisfied with Snape's attitude. "You should continue to stay in Hogwarts and help me keep an eye on Dumbledore and Sebastian. As for the potion, use the property of Hogwarts to make it for me. I hope Dumbledore won't feel bad."

"Hahahaha—" Upon hearing this, the Death Eaters next to them burst into laughter, obviously liking this idea very much.

"Severus," Voldemort smiled, "is there anything new you would like to share with us?"

"Sir," Snape continued, "Dumbledore and Fudge fell out. Fudge was unwilling to acknowledge your resurrection, so Dumbledore revived the Order of the Phoenix yesterday and held a meeting."

Hearing this, Voldemort became interested. He looked at Snape and motioned for him to continue.

"At the meeting, Dumbledore requested that the security around Harry Potter be strengthened. He asked members of the Order of the Phoenix to take turns on duty to prevent any accidents from happening to the Savior."

Haha, Voldemort sneered in his heart.

Dumbledore still doesn't understand himself well enough. Now the savior doesn't have that much appeal. What he cares about most now is his own strength.

Dumbledore was already troublesome enough before, and now there is another Sebastian.

Thinking of Sebastian's dragon form, a gloom began to rise on Voldemort's face.

"Don't worry about the Savior for now. He is not a concern." Voldemort's voice turned cold. "Severus, I need you to help me confirm whether Sebastian has entered Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and obtained the magic notebook left by Slytherin?"

The fact that Sebastian entered the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets was not a secret. After all, it was reported in the news at the time, so after returning to Malfoy Manor, Voldemort asked about it.

He wanted to take advantage of this issue to see Snape's attitude again and make one last test on him tonight.

Snape said without hesitation: "Yes, it was Sebastian who discovered the secret room. The entrance is in the bathroom where Myrtle is. He and I went deep underground and found Slytherin's magic notebook in a hidden room."

As expected, it was exactly as I had guessed.

Sebastian must have completed the Animagus transformation into dragon form based on the contents of Slytherin's notebook.

That dragon form is very powerful, and I must figure out the secret. If I can also transform into a dragon, then Sebastian will not be my opponent at all. Maybe I can even go a step further and gain the power to confront Dumbledore head-on.

"Severus," Voldemort said softly, "I need you to help me figure out the secret of Sebastian's transformation into a dragon man."

"This..." Snape looked embarrassed. "Master, from what I know about Sebastian, he would never keep such crucial information in paper form, but would memorize it all in his mind."

"And he was extremely wary of me. At first, he didn't even want to tell me who opened the Chamber of Secrets. He only vaguely told me that the Chamber of Secrets was opened by a student who was bewitched by a black magic item. So he would never share the secret of transforming into a dragon man with me."

"To be honest, before this, I never knew he had completed the Animagus transformation into a dragon form."

"Don't worry," Voldemort said calmly, "You don't need to get the complete secret. You just need to get some of his ideas during the conversation. I just need a reference. After all, if Sebastian can solve the problems in the codex, I can definitely do it too."

His eyes swept across the Death Eaters at the long table and finally landed on Avery.

"Avery, how's your job recruiting guys in Knockturn Alley?"

"Master..." Avery's face turned bitter, and he stammered, "My side...is not going well."

"Interesting," Voldemort said with a dangerous grin, "Those scums of Knockturn Alley dared to refuse my call."

"Avery, I'm really disappointed that you can't even do such a small thing."

"No, Master, listen to me," Avery said, almost pissing himself, fearing that Voldemort would begin to torture him, "It's not the scum in Knockturn Alley who are disobedient. It's..."

"But those scum no longer stay in Knockturn Alley," he glanced at Voldemort cautiously, "There are not many people in Knockturn Alley, it is almost closed down..."