Chapter 315: A Bountiful Harvest
Chapter 315: A Bountiful Harvest
On their way back to the castle, Albert and Isabelle remained silent. However, Albert could still sense Isabelle's lingering emotional turmoil.
After the excitement of exacting her revenge, Isabelle was now grappling with the fear of having taken a life. Ultimately, she was still a young girl.
Their return to the castle went unnoticed as the students of Hogwarts were busy struggling with their hefty holiday assignments. The library, the Great Hall, and the common rooms were where they ought to be.
Now, the two of them needed to locate Katrina, whom Smith had hidden away. They hadn't found her earlier when they broke into the Dark Magic Defense office to retrieve their wands.
"Are you sure Katrina is hidden in the Room of Requirement?"
"I can't find her name on the Marauder's Map," Albert explained, pointing to the map. "Only the Room of Requirement can block the tracking magic of the Marauder's Map."
"I need a place to hide someone, I need a place to hide someone, I need a place to hide someone!" Isabelle walked back and forth in front of the wall three times, but the door did not appear.
Albert was right, but now how were they going to get in? They couldn't just keep trying here.
"This is when we need a bit of luck," Albert gestured for Isabelle to wait a moment.
"Felix Felicis?" Isabelle immediately caught on. Although the Luck-Enhancing potion didn't literally bring luck, she was willing to trust Albert's intuition after he had taken the potion.
"The effect is still there, and my intuition tells me that Rowena Smith may have hidden Katrina in the Ravenclaw Secret Room!" Albert began to murmur to himself, "Ravenclaw's private library."
After pacing back and forth three times, a door indeed appeared on the wall. Isabelle immediately pushed it open and went inside. Albert glanced at the Marauder's Map to confirm that no one was around before quickly following her into the Ravenclaw Secret Room. Isabelle had already answered the eagle ring's question to gain entry.
"She's here! Katrina is here!" Isabelle's voice couldn't conceal her delight.
Upon entering the secret room, Albert saw Katrina lying unconscious.
Speaking of which, the McDougall sisters really did look very similar.
Albert went over to support Katrina, and together with Isabelle, they carried her out of the Ravenclaw Secret Room.
In Ravenclaw's private library, a bed had appeared at some point, and they placed Katrina on it.
"Rest assured, Rowena Smith is dead, and the soul-stealing curse she cast should have disappeared. Katrina's breathing is steady, so she was probably just hit with a Stunning Spell," Albert pulled a chair and sat down, offering quiet reassurance. "Now, we need to check if Katrina's memory has been tampered with, if she has forgotten what just happened. It's best not to let her know about this, let's keep this between the two of us."
"You're right!" Isabelle took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She sat down across from Albert to discuss their next steps.
"Do you have any good ideas?" Isabelle asked.
"This is simple," Albert replied. "Later, we'll just modify Katrina's memory to make her believe that I brought her to the Room of Requirement. I had promised Katrina that I would take her to a suitable place to use the Time-Turner anyway." Albert took out the traceless expanding box from his Chameleonic Lizard Pouch and retrieved two cups and a large barrel of butterbeer. He poured himself a cup and took a sip. This barrel of butterbeer was meant to be a reward for the Wizarding Chess tournament, but he decided to drink it now to celebrate their narrow escape.
"Do you want some?"
"Yes," Isabelle nodded, her eyes fixed on the cup of butterbeer. She fell silent for a moment.
"I think you should consider your situation. Your mindset hasn't fully adjusted yet," Albert took a sip from his cup and continued, "To be honest, even if you hadn't done that, I would have killed him anyway. I'm the type to hold a grudge."
"I've prepared myself for this a long time ago," Isabelle looked up at Albert and said softly, "I've also thought about the consequences of my actions. But, thank you for your concern."
"What do you plan to do from now on? After achieving your revenge, you might feel lost without a new goal," Albert offered a friendly reminder.
Isabelle held her cup, staring at the bubbles within, "I plan to continue my father's magical experiments."
"Do you need my help?" Albert blurted out.
Isabelle looked up, sizing Albert up with a peculiar expression, but she soon nodded and smiled, "Sure, if you're willing to help."
"Your smile is beautiful; you should smile more often." With lightning speed, Albert claimed the rewards related to Isabelle's favorability on his task panel.
Then, he took Isabelle's hand and continued to make small talk, "Also, don't always see through me. What's it like to be a naturally-born Legilimens?"
"It doesn't feel good. Many people are too fake, and when you can see through their thoughts but have to pretend otherwise, it feels awful!"
Isabelle glanced at her hand, which Albert was holding, with no intention of pulling it away. She calmly shared a part of her secret.
The year she came to Hogwarts, she displayed extraordinary talent, and it was then that Uncle Maug started teaching her Occlumency, helping her learn to control her ability.
"What about you? How did you learn Disillusionment?" Isabelle stared at Albert's eyes. At first, she thought Albert had carried her out of the Forbidden Forest, only to later realize he had used Disillusionment, and that feeling was indescribable.
"I sneaked a peek at Professor Bunsby's lessons. You're the only one who knows I can do Disillusionment, remember to keep it a secret," Albert winked at Isabelle and smiled.
"You're so bold. How dare you bring someone along with Disillusionment before mastering it completely?" Isabelle began to understand why Albert was sorted into Gryffindor. This guy's courage was truly extraordinary, as evident from his actions.
"No, I dared to do that because I was confident I could ensure our safety with Disillusionment." Albert shook his head, "Don't forget, I drank Felix Felicis, and with its help, I could even cast a Silencing Charm effortlessly, not to mention Disillusionment."
"That's true!" Isabelle nodded. Albert rarely did anything without assurance, and while the fight with Rowena Smith seemed dangerous, he had prepared for it in advance.
After finishing their butterbeer and chatting pleasantly for half an hour, Isabelle found her tense emotions had completely calmed down.
Their handling of Katrina was quite simple. Albert used the Reviving Spell to wake her up, and Isabelle, hidden by a Disillusionment Charm, secretly cast a False Memory Charm to alter Katrina's memories.
Watching the chatting duo, the young girl sighed softly.
Soon, the three of them parted ways. As Albert returned to the common room, Lee Jordan handed him a letter from Professor Bunsby.
The content of the letter was short but implied a lot:
> Don't worry, the matter has been resolved. Let's chat another day when I'm free.
Isabelle received a similar letter.
"That was efficient!" Albert couldn't help but exclaim.
"What do you mean efficient?"
"Nothing!"
Albert returned the polished wand to Lee Jordan. He had retrieved his wand earlier, as Smith's office couldn't keep him from picking its locks.
"I have something else to do. See you later."
After saying this, Albert prepared to return to the Room of Requirement to claim the remaining task rewards while the effects of Felix Felicis had not completely worn off.
"Where are you going?" Fred hurried over, "Did you take the parchment?"
Initially, the two wanted to use the Marauder's Map to see if Albert had gone on a date, but they found that the map was missing, which left them frustrated for a while.
"It's with me, I'll give it to you later!"
Albert quickly disappeared around the corner and returned to the Room of Requirement. He eagerly opened the task panel to check the rewards for the completed tasks.
The long-ago "Ulterior Motives" task was finally completed.
Rowena Smith's secret visit to Hogwarts was likely to confirm the Wildsmith family and target the two candidates, Albert and Isabelle.
The candidates were probably just the two of them, as Katrina, who was also outstanding among her peers, was not chosen, which spoke volumes.
In addition to experience, the reward included randomly acquiring one of Rowena Smith's skills.
What would it be?
That guy knew quite a few spells, and Albert was quite envious.
"Buddha bless, God bless, Merlin bless, please let me get a useful skill!" Albert muttered as he claimed the task rewards.
When he checked his skills, he found that he had gained the Crushing Curse.
Albert was momentarily at a loss for words.
After completing the Unforgivable task and learning the Soul-Sucking Curse, since he had cast the Killing Curse in the Forbidden Forest, he now had all three Unforgivable Curses under his belt.
It didn't seem very useful, as he couldn't use Unforgivable Curses casually, and if he really wanted to learn them, he could have done so long ago.
Now, he had directly mastered them all.
However, after acquiring all three Unforgivable Curses, he unexpectedly triggered a new task.
Rise of the Dark Lord.
You've managed to master the three Unforgivable Curses at such a young age; it seems you have the potential to become a Dark Wizard. Embrace your dark side and bring pain upon others! 0/10
Reward: 2000 experience, gain a specified Dark Magic, Reputation in the Wizarding World +100.
Could it be that even negative reputation counts as an increase in reputation?
Albert couldn't help but want to complain.
To be honest, while Albert didn't shy away from using Dark Magic, he had no aspirations to become a Dark Wizard.
The idea of becoming the Dark Lord, like Grindelwald or Voldemort, was best left untouched.
The appearance of this task dampened Albert's good mood considerably, and he quickly claimed the reward for "Mistaken Decision," which turned out to be the Muggle-Repelling Charm.
This charm was somewhat mediocre, not entirely useless, but Albert could have learned it elsewhere. Getting it now meant he didn't have to spend time and energy acquiring it.
Indeed, the randomness of skill acquisition could be quite a pitfall.
Previously, he had been incredibly lucky to obtain Mastery of Potions; it was as if Merlin himself had blessed him.
As for Rowena Smith, she possessed an extensive repertoire of magic, and if he had randomly chosen a skill he already knew, it would have been even more disappointing. Albert felt that he needed the Luck-Enhancing Potion to make the right choice.
However, the "Counterattack" reward from the task panel offered a specified skill, and enduring the Cruciatus Curse hadn't been in vain. Albert decided to leave this task for last.
Speaking of the Cruciatus Curse, the task panel also presented a new task similar to the "Unbreakable" task triggered by the Soul-Sucking Curse. But this one was called "Hard as Nails."
The reward was increased resistance to the Cruciatus Curse +1.
Albert suspected that if he could survive the Killing Curse, he might trigger another similar task.
If he could collect all three rewards, who knows, he might even unlock a new task, just like "Rise of the Dark Lord."
However, Albert quickly abandoned the thought of testing his limits, as he wasn't Harry Potter, and such an attempt might very well lead to his demise.
The next task made Albert want to laugh—it was called "Innocent Wolf."
It was triggered by the two unfortunate werewolves captured by Rowena Smith, and the reward was meager: experience and a skill called Werewolf Friend, which slightly increased werewolves' goodwill towards the caster.
To be frank, Albert didn't consider those two werewolves innocent in the slightest.
On Isabelle's side, a task called "A Tale of Young Revenge" was triggered, requiring him to help Isabelle with her revenge. This task was completed alongside "An Eye for an Eye" for killing Rowena Smith, and the rewards were quite generous: some skill points and +40 to Isabelle's favorability.
Initially, Albert had suggested that Isabelle let the Acromantula devour Rowena Smith to exact her revenge.
With "A Tale of Young Revenge," "Revenge," and "Comrades in Adversity," Albert successfully raised Isabelle's favorability to over 70.
Their relationship had progressed even further.
"An Eye for an Eye" ranked second only to "Counterattack," granting Albert 5000 experience and 2 skill points.
Lastly, Albert eagerly anticipated the reward for "Counterattack." He rubbed his hands together as the task panel unveiled a list of skills—Rowena Smith's repertoire, even more extensive than his own, leaving him dazzled and confused, as he didn't even recognize some of the skills listed.
What should he choose? Half an hour later, Albert narrowed it down to a few practical skills: Dueling, Mastery of Dark Magic, and Finkle-Cursing Technique.
It was a pity he didn't have any Felix Felicis left, or he could have relied on his instincts to make a selection.
After some consideration, Albert decided to go with Mastery of Dark Magic.
While Dueling might enhance his strength, with Mastery of Potions already under his belt, he believed that Mastery of Dark Magic might bring him unexpected surprises.
As for the Finkle-Cursing Technique, Albert chose to forgo it for now, thinking that Professor Blodau might possess such knowledge, and he could seek guidance from him in the future.
(End of Chapter)
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