Albania, a country in South Eastern Europe had a handful of new residents that evening, though not one of the country's three million inhabitants knew it. Mount Korab was the highest mountain in Albania and inside a cave the Death Eaters and their leader had made their new base.
As the Death Eaters moved about the cave system, using their magic to expand small openings into vast rooms and to make their new lair habitable, their Lord and Master, Tom Riddle, the self-styled Lord Voldemort, sat alone in his newly constructed throne room pondering on recent events.
Although his retreat from Britain had been rather sudden, he had always known that it would be a possibility. Following his return to physical form, it had always been his intention to maintain a low profile for as long as possible, allowing him to quietly recruit more and more followers to his cause without raising the suspicions of the Ministry.
The arrest of Severus Snape had changed everything.
Voldemort did not yet fully understand exactly what had happened that night when Severus was arrested. However, he did know that whatever it was had seemingly forced Dumbledore to go on the run. That last bit should have been excellent news – The great Albus Dumbledore, out of the Ministry, out of Hogwarts, out of society, but it wasn't.
With Dumbledore out of the picture, any protection that Snape may have had from the Ministry was now gone. Dumbledore either did not realise or did not care to think on the fact that his keeping Severus Snape out of the clutches of the Ministry was in fact doing Voldemort a very great service. Snape knew much, and Dumbledore had gone to great lengths to keep Snape out of the Ministry's clutches.
Many Death Eaters, such as Avery, Crabbe and Macnair, had faced trial for their part in Death Eater activities, but had ultimately been let go on the basis of there not being enough information to convict them. Had Snape ever been questioned by the Ministry, the outcomes of many of those trials could have been vastly different and that would have been disastrous for the Dark Lord.
And now Voldemort was faced with the very real prospect of that potential disaster becoming a reality. Snape was caught by the Ministry and was slowly and methodically being pumped for information without the protection of Albus Dumbledore to save him.
Faced with the prospect of many of his followers being rounded up and shoved into Azkaban, or worse sentenced to the Dementor's kiss, Voldemort had taken the only course of action that he felt was available to him and retreated entirely from the British Isles, taking with him every Death Eater who still roamed free, along with their families.
Now that he considered it, such an action was not as bad as it seemed. Here in the mountains of Albania they were well hidden and few would think to look for them there. The Albanian Ministry of Magic had its own problems to deal with and Voldemort was certain that he and his followers could operate without arousing suspicion.
The major downside of his decision to retreat was that the order had come too soon for some, forcing multiple families to abandon any children they had attending Hogwarts. The only Hogwarts-aged wizard amongst them was Draco Malfoy, who had been at home when the order to retreat had come. Other families, such the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Notts, the Parkinsons, the Bullstrodes, the Puceys, the Vaseys, the Flints, the Carrows, the Bletchleys and the Montagues had all left at least one child behind, much to their consternation.
To Voldemort's mind this was unfortunate, as each of those children would have information that could be extracted by the Ministry, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. He had never personally bothered with keeping tabs on the offspring of his followers until such a time as they could join him, but all in all he believed that the early retreat had cost him between twenty and thirty wands. With his forces as depleted as they were he was far from happy with such a loss but, again, it was too late to change that. Already he had branded the spouses and older offspring of his Death Eaters with the Dark Mark and for now that would have to be enough.
Of course there were a few other downsides as well. Fenrir Greyback and the Werewolves who followed him had been left behind, but they would have to wait it out. Then there was Scabior and the other lowlifes and petty criminals of the seedy underside of society. While they certainly had their uses, Voldemort had never marked any of them and never even considered including them the order to retreat. In all honesty it was just as well that they remained in Britain, out of the way.
Also left behind were the Dementors of Azkaban and the prisoners whom they guarded. Voldemort had been able to make contact with the guards of the wizarding prison but so far talks had been relatively fruitless. Again, for the time being, the Dementors and their prisoners would just have to sit tight until such a time as Voldemort was able to come for them.
Of course, there were benefits too. It would be much easier to recruit new followers from Albania than from Britain. The country they were in had its own collection of dark and shady characters, all of whom could easily be persuaded to join Voldemort and his cause.
Then there were the creatures. Macnair was already off recruiting the Giants to their cause, but from their new location it would be easy to recruit others: Trolls, Hags, Ogres, Vampires, Ghouls and possibly even Dwarves, if they could be persuaded. And, of course, there were Werewolves out here as well.
Then there were the other creatures to consider, Lethifolds, Nundu, Manticores, Yetis, Occamies, Sphinxes, Dragons and many other terrifying monsters all of whom could be brought in secret to join Voldemort's cause.
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