Chapter 311: Return
Chapter 311: Return
Felix saw a hazy green light. He squinted, the green glow emanating from a stone basin similar to a Meditation Basin, which was connected to a base.
Beneath his feet were clusters of crystal-like stones, haphazardly jutting out of the ground, reflecting a faint light. Felix's gaze swept around, and he saw nothing but impenetrable darkness, a place devoid of life.
Sirius Black helped Kreacher to his feet, raising his wand high. The light from the tip of his wand illuminated only a small area, even hiding half of his face in the darkness, making it hard to see his features.
"We're deep in Voldemort's heart", Sirius Black said quickly, his tone tinged with excitement and a sense of vengeance. "But the influence here is stronger, and magic doesn't work as well."
"It's not that some magic doesn't work", Felix tilted his head, gesturing to Kreacher, whose fingertips glowed more brightly. "This gives me some ideas..."
Felix extinguished the light from his wand, blending completely into the darkness. They were only a few feet apart, but Sirius Black couldn't see any outline of him. The silence was eerie, and the sense of danger was closing in.
He heard Felix make a strange sound, like some kind of language with a peculiar rhythm and cadence. Then, he saw the light. A large, soft, milky white glow blossomed before his eyes, leaving a small dot in his vision, but in an instant, the light flooded the ground, the air, and every inch of his field of view.
The light was not blinding; Sirius Black could even see beyond Felix, the scene behind him. He couldn't help but open his mouth wide—it was an endless, mirror-like lake. He had subconsciously overlooked it, the water hidden in the darkness, calm and still, without a ripple or a sound, like a smooth, flat surface.
But what was most shocking were the bodies in the lake. One after another, they floated beneath the mirror-like surface. He looked around, and the nearest body was only three or four feet away, as if he could reach out and touch it.
Sirius Black could clearly see the pale, marble-like faces of the bodies, dressed in brown shirts and blue or black pants... Sirius Black's heart turned cold. Regulus might have been dragged into the water like this...
"Ripples!"
The dark lake stirred, and a hand emerged. "Be careful! These aren't bodies, they're Voldemort's Specter Army!" Sirius Black warned loudly, stepping back. "And many of them are Muggles... Damn, it's that village! He destroyed a village to get his army!"
Sirius Black had no time to curse. He raised his wand, preparing to counterattack. It wasn't easy, given the constraints on his magic and the need to avoid harming Regulus's body.
But Felix said calmly, "It seems they don't intend to attack us." Indeed, the Specters did not climb onto the small island in the middle of the lake. Instead, they moved away, more accurately, they were moving away from the light source in Felix's hand.
"Fear of light and fire, that's the nature of Specters. Voldemort would certainly restrict these types of magic, and with no apparition allowed, it's a clever move..."
Felix added, "But like he didn't consider the magic of House-Elves, Voldemort also didn't consider the Ancient Magic powered by Runic Script, or perhaps he did but couldn't restrict it."
Felix raised his hands, allowing a round, white light orb to rise slowly. The cave they were in was very high, and looking up, they couldn't see the ceiling. The white light orb rose to the highest point, shining like the sun, casting warm light.
Voldemort's dark trap had failed. The light and darkness intertwined, and ultimately, the darkness was driven away, illuminating the entire cave like daylight.
Now, they could see everything clearly. They stood on a small island in the middle of a large lake, surrounded by black water that was now transparent and bright.
Hundreds of Specters hid at the bottom of the lake, but they had nowhere to run, only hiding by instinct.
Felix said to Sirius Black and Kreacher, "Now you can look for people. I want to study this stone pedestal." After a few seconds, he looked at the man and the elf, surprised, and asked, "Do you need me to cast a Bubble-Head Charm on you?"
The Bubble-Head Charm creates a bubble-shaped air pocket around the caster's head, similar to an inverted fishbowl, allowing wizards to explore underwater or avoid unpleasant odors. It's a spell that's not exactly obscure. As far as Felix knew, the Weasley Twins were quite adept at this magic.
"I can't expect you to help me find him, I don't even know Regulus..."
Sirius Black waved his hand, having put considerable effort into casting the Bubble-Head Charm on himself and Kreacher. He spoke with a muffled voice, "Are you sure these Specters won't suddenly attack?"
"Only if they're still Specters", Felix said, scanning the area with his black and white vision. "I don't see any hidden magic, don't worry."
Kreacher immediately jumped into the lake, swimming with his agile limbs. Sirius Black grumbled and followed, diving in as well.
Sirius Black endured the icy, bone-chilling water, his vision unaffected. He first found a Specter hiding behind a rock, prying away the hands covering the Specter's face to get a good look. He didn't receive any attacks until he moved on to the next target.
"Perverted magic", Sirius Black muttered in the water. Specters fear light, but ordinary light doesn't have this effect.
The task became tedious—Sirius Black spent twenty minutes in the Black Lake, feeling his body stiffen, his clothes soaked and dragging him down. Kreacher was no better, perhaps even worse. Sirius Black had to pull Kreacher up to recover their strength.
The cold lake water dripped from Sirius Black's robes as he climbed the steps, shivering.
Kreacher's teeth chattered, and his words were slurred, but he insisted, "Kreacher has checked... 47, no, 48..."
Sirius Black scowled, "Do you want to get sick and make me take care of you? Come and eat something. He even made a fire, it's just... ridiculous."
Sirius Black found it absurd. Around the fire, various foods were scattered, and he even saw two bottles of Butterbeer. This wasn't a camping trip! He didn't know how he managed to eat, but he did replenish some energy.
"You can use the Warming Charm, it will make you feel better", Felix suggested without looking up.
...
One hundred, two hundred, Sirius Black examined one Specter's face after another, and two hours had passed.
But the Black Lake was vast, and due to Felix's magic, all the Specters instinctively sought out dark corners, making them widely dispersed and increasing the difficulty of the search. Despite all this, the lake bottom wasn't any darker than the surface.
During this time, Felix continued to observe the Meditation Basin and the green potion inside.
For Voldemort, the Horcrux was his most important possession, and the protective measures surrounding it would be the strongest magic he could think of and master.
Felix could glimpse a fraction of Voldemort's power through this.
Under black and white vision, magical ripples spread out in concentric circles from Felix's center. He scanned the area, imprinting everything in his memory. Finally, he moved, his hand reaching into the basin, stopping just an inch or two from the potion.
Felix tried various methods, but none of them worked.
"Unless I use brute force... but that wouldn't accurately measure Voldemort's strength, and he must have considered this issue..."
Felix called out to Kreacher, who was returning for the third time, "Do me a favor, bring me the ring I left outside. If it's too much trouble, forget it."
"Yes, Mr. Heap."
Kreacher's figure disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later, holding a ring.
"Is this ring a burden for you?" Felix asked curiously. He had previously worried that Kreacher couldn't move him, Sirius Black, and a dozen Dementors together, but maybe that was a mistaken assumption.
"A bit strenuous... but not as much as Mr. Heap alone. You are a very powerful wizard, more powerful than anyone Kreacher has ever seen."
"Uh, well, thank you, Kreacher."
Felix scratched his head. So, Sirius Black's exhaustion earlier was due to himself? However, Sirius Black had traveled a long distance, while Kreacher had only made a short trip, so they couldn't be compared.
Kreacher bowed deeply, pressing his nose to the ground, and backed away.
Felix took a cup from the ring and tossed it into the stone basin. This time, without any magical barrier, the cup sank into the liquid. Felix reached in to retrieve it, examined it for a long while, and then tipped the contents out.
A bright green potion flowed from the cup, forming a curved stream, but it vanished abruptly in mid-air. Felix emptied the cup, and not a single drop landed on the ground. When he turned around, he noticed that the liquid level in the stone basin had inexplicably returned to its original height.
"Interesting... Does it have to be drunk?"
Felix fished out another cup of potion and tried to analyze its components using Skele-Gro. Faint images appeared above the potion, but they were too blurry to make out. Felix had to delve into his memory, searching for obscure magic. Some of these spells he had never used, only categorized and stored in his memory.
Fortunately, he learned quickly. With the help of the Mind Chamber and his current understanding of magic, he could master most spells rapidly.
"Mix of snake venom... unknown creature's venom... Flobberworm mucus... Basilisk venom... and Bloodroot, which can cause impatience and recklessness, with a confusing effect... Dreamweed, a rare application..."
Felix looked up and muttered to himself, "The potion's effects don't seem to cause death, but rather amplify pain and induce strong hallucinations? This matches Kreacher's experience, no, and the chaotic magic that makes it difficult to use magic... In this way, even a powerful wizard would be dragged to the bottom of the lake in despair."
Another half-hour passed before Sirius Black arrived. He saw Felix choking a Dementor and feeding it the potion. Sirius's eyes nearly popped out. Where did this thing come from?
Before he could ask, he heard Kreacher's tearful cry echoing through the cave, "Found—Master Regulus—"
Sirius leaped into the water, following the sound. He suddenly realized he hadn't cast the Bubble-Head Charm, but there was no time to think. He held his breath and swam quickly to Kreacher's side.
He saw a familiar figure, not much different from his memory, except for a paler complexion. The same black curly hair floated around in the water.
Sirius murmured, the pungent salt and decaying lake water making him shiver and cough violently.
He swam back to shore with Regulus's body, gasping for air and making a hoarse sound. He was drenched, and the lake water ran down his face, but no one would notice if he shed any tears.
Once he calmed down, Sirius picked up Regulus and walked to Felix. The Dementor had disappeared, and he saw that the potion in the stone basin was now a shallow layer, with a locket barely visible at the bottom.
But he knew it was a fake and had no interest. All he wanted was to take Regulus back and give him a proper burial, preferably with a funeral.
"Sirius, Kreacher, wait outside for me. I need to do one more thing", Felix said.
"What are you going to do?"
"To put it bluntly, I want to cause some destruction..."
Kreacher led Sirius and Regulus's body outside the cave. After a while, the rock wall began to peel and crumble. They took a few steps back, watching as the wall emitted layers of light, which then quickly dimmed and decayed. The solid rock turned to fine powder, crumbling and falling, eventually forming a wide opening.
Felix emerged, and Sirius glanced back at the light behind him. The island in the lake had vanished, and a small boat was now drifting by the shore.
"Let's go", Felix said calmly.
"You destroyed everything here?"
"We can't let the next person who comes in do this in vain."
"What about that glowing magic, the big light ball?"
"Leave it. It will be gone in a week or two."
Felix grabbed Sirius, Kreacher, and Regulus's body, and they instantly disappeared from the cave.
"Boom!"
Large chunks of rock fell, burying everything inside.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
