Chapter 217: Huntdementor
Chapter 217: Huntdementor
After Wolf pointed out that the notebook smelled of Werewolf, Hermione seemed shocked and didn't say a word for a long time. It wasn't until Liam shook her that she finally reacted, saying, "This notebook is from the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Lupin. I was worried about missing some knowledge from not attending his classes in the first half of the year, so I asked him some questions after class, and he lent me this notebook."
"Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Wolf nodded. "That profession does involve frequent encounters with dark creatures. It's quite normal to come across a Werewolf. He might have gotten some Werewolf scent on his notebook."
Under normal circumstances, even the most imaginative person wouldn't think that Dumbledore would hire a Werewolf as a professor. So Hermione nodded in agreement after hearing Wolf's reasoning.
Anyway, Lupin wasn't the kind of Werewolf who liked to bite people randomly. As long as they were careful during the full moon, it wasn't a big deal. Liam also didn't worry about it, especially since Lupin's appointment was Dumbledore's decision. In such a situation, knowing that Lupin was a Werewolf wouldn't help much unless they wanted to confront Dumbledore.
They quickly moved on from the topic of Werewolves and continued discussing what they had seen during their trip. They only said their reluctant goodbyes to Wolf when it was almost time for dinner.
Due to Sirius Black's escape this year, the Dementors had left their old haunt, Azkaban, and come to Hogwarts as guards. Liam had always been very curious about these creatures, especially after mastering Life Magic. He was eager to study these strange beings, and the Dementors' arrival at Hogwarts provided a perfect opportunity.
Three days later, late at night after curfew, Liam quietly slipped out of bed. Under the protection of a Disillusionment Charm, he made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
According to the information Liam had gathered from the Weasley Twins, the Dementors guarding the school entrance were closely monitored. There were dozens of Dementors gathered there, making it difficult to approach them without being noticed. Liam just wanted to capture a Dementor for research, not to cause trouble. Therefore, he chose the Dementors patrolling the Forbidden Forest at night.
There was another important reason for choosing the Dementors patrolling the Forbidden Forest: some classmates with family members working at the Ministry of Magic mentioned that a few Dementors occasionally went missing while patrolling the forest. The Ministry suspected they might have been killed by some powerful creatures in the forest. If that was true, capturing a few Dementors wouldn't raise any suspicion.
Since Dementors absorb the Life Force from their surroundings, the patrol path in the Forbidden Forest, which emitted a faint aura of death, was clearly visible to Liam through his Life Magic-enhanced Eagle Eye. After using Life Magic to conceal his presence, Liam quietly climbed up a tree next to the patrol path and waited for the Dementors to arrive.
Before long, two Dementors floated over from a distance. According to well-informed classmates, the Ministry of Magic discovered after several losses that Dementors entering the Forbidden Forest should travel in pairs. Any larger group would easily be attacked by the forest's creatures. Therefore, the Dementor patrol teams now consisted of two members.
This also gave Liam plenty of opportunities, as he could ensure he could defeat a group of them, but catching them alive was a different story.
When two Dementors drifted under the tree, Liam could feel the temperature around him drop suddenly, and a mental attack assaulted his soul. However, under the protection of the Orthodox Daoist Heart Method, this soul attack had no effect on him.
Seizing the opportunity, Liam leaped down from the branch, which was two stories high, and simultaneously threw a yellow paper talisman at each Dementor, unleashing Palm Thunder.
After a standard assassination move, Liam landed on the snow and rolled to the side to avoid any potential attacks. But when he drew his wand and aimed it at the Dementors, he noticed that they had been mostly melted and were hurriedly drifting away, trying to escape.
"Damn, I can't let them go and report back", Liam thought. Instinctively, he pulled a paper talisman from his Spatial Bag, attached it to his wand, and then waved his wand to draw a Talisman in the air. After completing the drawing, he pointed at the retreating Dementors and shouted, "Lightning!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a small white flame appeared on the charm paper and quickly burned it to ashes.
Then, a silver-white bolt of lightning descended from the sky, splitting into two at the treetops and striking the two fleeing Dementors.
With two screeching sounds, like nails on a chalkboard, and two waves of negative energy, the Dementors were reduced to black smoke. Liam could feel the two energy masses filled with negative energy suddenly disappear from his Life Magic detection range.
This confirmed his earlier suspicion: the Thunder Art was indeed very effective against such vile creatures. However, the problem was that this effectiveness also meant the Dementors were directly eliminated rather than incapacitated.
It seemed he would have to use his backup plan. With this in mind, Liam quickly left the first ambush point and leaped from branch to branch toward the second ambush point.
The second ambush point was closer to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Liam had reasoned that if the first ambush failed, the remaining Dementors would retreat from the Forbidden Forest as quickly as possible. The second ambush point was strategically chosen to intercept them on their retreat route.
Sure enough, when Liam arrived at the second ambush point, panting, he saw two Dementors hurrying over from a distance. This was a key characteristic of Dementors: except for a few leaders, most acted on instinct. In a group, they could function better, but individually, they could only act rigidly according to their habits, lacking the ability to adapt.
Thus, these two Dementors were retreating along their patrol route, giving Liam the perfect opportunity to ambush them.
When the two Dementors drifted under the tree, a large red net descended, quickly trapping them and rendering them immobile. Liam then jumped down, picked up the net, and tossed it into the Multiverse General Store.
After tossing the two Dementors, which were surprisingly light, into the Multiverse General Store, Liam didn't hear the sound of the emporium deducting Deviation Points. This confirmed part of his earlier hypothesis: ordinary Dementors were mindless monsters acting purely on instinct, lacking sufficient intelligence.
With two Dementors secured as loot, Liam immediately returned to the castle. His goal had been achieved, and with four Dementors missing, a large-scale search by the Dementors was likely to follow soon. Liam had no intention of encountering a large group of monsters. Besides, he was eager to return to the safety of the castle to study the Dementors.
(End of Chapter)
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