No sooner had Narcissa and Draco left than Dumbledore whisked Jane off on a frenzied shopping spree through Diagon Alley.
First, he swept his hand grandly and told Madam Malkin to wrap up every style of dress robe and formal wear in the shop; then he marched straight to Twilfitt and Tatting's for another complete buyout; passing the joke shop, he casually picked up two Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder bombs.
Jane couldn't understand why her guardian had suddenly been struck by shopping fever.
She wondered—was there some kind of Black Friday sale going on here?
In any case, by the time she returned to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Kreacher had to clear out another bedroom just to store all those wizard robes, formal gowns, jewelry, school supplies, and magical items.
Little did she know that Dumbledore was already in full holiday shopping mode!
Ever since Percy had informed him that the Malfoy matriarch and her son were behaving suspiciously in Diagon Alley, he'd suspected their plans and decided to keep a watchful eye.
For this purpose, he'd specifically brought Jane—who'd had extensive dealings with this family—to Diagon Alley for a little chat with the lady herself.
Sure enough, professional matters required professional handling!
Jane had first used a combination of intimidation and persuasion to break through Narcissa's psychological defenses, then pressed her advantage step by step, using Draco as leverage and employing subtle hints until she'd driven Narcissa to complete collapse, forcing her to reveal every detail of the assassination plot!
Now he had a clear picture of the Malfoy family's current attitude and circumstances:
"Giving away family treasures" likely referred to Malfoy Manor being requisitioned as a Death Eater meeting place, with their wealth being steadily devoured; "creditors watching their every move" meant all three family members were under surveillance; and Draco had been assigned the "nearly impossible" task of killing Dumbledore himself.
Therefore, the couple were deeply dissatisfied with Voldemort's leadership and only wanted their son to escape this nightmare.
What impressed him most was Jane's brilliant response: send them to a custom-designed Azkaban!
This maximized the family's usefulness: first, without the Malfoys' key authentication, no one could access Gringotts, significantly reducing financial support for the Death Eaters; second, it would deprive Voldemort of two elite fighters; third, it would provide firsthand intelligence on Death Eater operations; fourth, it would earn Jane the Malfoys' gratitude for saving Draco's life...
For the Malfoys, this was also a rare opportunity: first, they could stay far from the battlefield and serve their sentence peacefully, with all three family members safe from mortal danger; second, after release, regardless of who held power, they'd have a chance to rebuild...
Dumbledore was confident that, given the Malfoy family's wisdom, they would definitely choose this golden road to Azkaban.
For now, though, he decided to redirect the conversation back to analyzing that "back-to-school present."
"It seems our campus is about to welcome some rather unsavory elements," he said lightly. "The safest places are often the most dangerous."
He rose from the armchair in the bedroom, reinforcing the doors and windows several more times before continuing:
"With Harry at Hogwarts, it's like a piece of guarded meat placed just out of the wolves' reach."
"If Voldemort wants to kill him personally, he must first eliminate those he believes are protecting that meat—you and me."
"Draco Malfoy is his chosen instrument."
Jane felt question marks practically materializing above her head.
"Is there something wrong with the Dark Lord's brain?"
She voiced the bewildering question that had been plaguing her—the Dark Lord's plan was utterly incomprehensible to her.
Having Draco, an underage student, assassinate Dumbledore and herself?
Setting aside Draco's personal combat limitations—
Her business partners, the Malfoys who doted on their son, upon hearing such an absurd plan to send their child to his death—
Wouldn't they be furious enough to secretly slip laxatives into Voldemort's meals or sprinkle itching powder on his bandages?
She figured the man had probably sliced his brain to pieces.
Looking at Dumbledore, she saw his eyes filled with helplessness—he was probably stunned into laughter, his mouth corners struggling to stay down.
Clearly, he too was shocked by such a zero-damage, self-destructive master plan.
"The best plan is to never let Voldemort make any plans for you..." Dumbledore muttered, then said seriously, "Perhaps it's because I had Severus spread word about my weakened condition... cough... that made him so reckless..."
He forcibly pressed down his mouth corners, suppressing that hint of amusement.
"Well, splitting one's soul does cause serious emotional and rational damage," he answered Jane's confusion.
Jane felt she understood his diplomatic meaning.
This is how people with broken brains make plans.
"So you see, with his mindset, he can't understand what love is—he doesn't comprehend what a mother can do for her child," Dumbledore continued. "He thinks cruel punishment toward Draco will make that family completely obey him, but he doesn't realize this only pushes them further away."
Jane thought of Draco and Narcissa's spirited performance about "back-to-school presents" in the shop—
She detected the strange undertones:
"So their so-called back-to-school present is an assassination gift package for us?"
Dumbledore nodded, stood up, pulled out an Instant Darkness Powder bomb from his robes, and tossed it into the room.
Instantly, the room plunged into pitch darkness, thick smoke rolling everywhere—nothing could be seen.
Jane could only hear his voice echoing continuously:
"Lumos... Incendio... See? These spells are useless—they can't penetrate the smoke."
"This is meant to block vision, including the user's own... so he needs something to help him see the path clearly."
Dumbledore muttered an incantation, and the smoke instantly dispersed, the room brightening again.
"'Becoming a thief, a robber, chopping off hands'—" he quietly repeated Draco's words. "There's a Dark Magic ritual that allows one to see through any dark environment and open door locks—cut off the hand of a notorious thief and robber, cure it in a hanged man's fresh blood, insert a candle made from human fat, then light it."
"As for the opal necklace—using a cursed necklace to strangle someone in their sleep was a common assassination method in medieval times."
Dumbledore finished analyzing Draco's words, though he still didn't understand what that "filthy wardrobe" could be.
"I should have Mundungus check out Borgin and Burkes—he's quite knowledgeable about these things."
Then he cautioned Jane:
"The student taking on this task might not be him alone. You should investigate which other Slytherins are Death Eater children. You must always wear your Spell-Shielding Robe and stay alert for their secret schemes."
Jane nodded. With her automatic danger detector—the Obscurus—she wasn't worried about these students causing harm.
What concerned her more was whether secrets might be stolen from her current projects.
"No need to worry too much for now," Dumbledore replied. "The Ministry will station permanent Aurors, and entering the laboratory requires wand authentication and passing through multiple checkpoints."
The security measures sounded comprehensive, putting Jane's mind at ease.
Just then, there was a sudden knock at her bedroom door.
Dumbledore's face darkened!
He distinctly remembered welding that "No Entry" sign shut tight!
He was eager to see which bold individual it was this time.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━