Chapter 426: Grindelwald: Follow Me
Chapter 426: Grindelwald: Follow Me
"A phoenix!" Lockhart and Goyle exclaimed in unison.
Startled, Goyle's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, exclaiming in despair, "Is Dumbledore here?"
How could they have the audacity to make Dumbledore himself come after them?
Lockhart, equally terrified, stumbled and fell, but quickly noticed a difference, "No... that's not right. The phoenix I saw at Hogwarts with Dumbledore was different from this one."
Mabel stared at the fiery bird, feeling a sense of familiarity. After a moment of recollection, she finally remembered its name—
"...Mihal?"
Mihal nodded, chirped twice, and turned to gesture.
"Is it Voldemort Grey who sent you to find me? Where is he?" Mabel asked, looking at the firebird.
But Mihal didn't respond; it flew out, landing on the fence and looking back at her.
Mabel understood and opened the door without hesitation. Goyle couldn't help but shout, "Wait! What if it's a trap?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he covered his mouth, looking regretful for saying those words, while Lockhart glared at him with a menacing look.
Mabel paused at the door, turned back, and suddenly smiled.
"I should go now. Please thank Mr. Trocar for his hospitality."
Her expression, resembling that of a carefree little girl, caught both of them off guard for a moment.
Then, holding the hem of her skirt, the girl dashed out. The firebird flew ahead, stopping and hovering, leading her away.
The room fell silent for a while.
"That's odd," Goyle rubbed his nose and muttered, "I suddenly feel... a bit worried about her..."
"You worry about yourself. I just hope she never comes back," Lockhart said, leaning against the wall as he slowly stood up, wincing in pain. "My whole body aches. I just want to lie down for a bit. Don't disturb me at lunchtime..."
Goyle watched as Lockhart slowly made his way into the bedroom, each step seeming like a torture, and couldn't help but show a look of sympathy.
"Sigh... Humans are so fragile. Fortunately, I'm a vampire..."
He licked his lips, his eyes filled with longing, and said, "Where should I go to steal some blood at noon? Forget it, Mabel just left, and the Dementors might still be nearby. Better to be cautious..."
...
Following the firebird, Mabel ran to an abandoned building, feeling a bit scared by its eerie appearance.
Fortunately, Mihal didn't fly too deep into the building. It soon stopped and perched on a dusty second-floor railing.
"Mr. Grey?" Mabel asked cautiously as she slowly stepped inside.
The abandoned building was spacious, and she could even hear her own echo.
Then, she heard a voice.
"Sorry, Miss Mabel," a figure emerged from behind a pillar to her left, saying, "Since it's inconvenient for us to show ourselves, we had to ask Mihal to bring you here."
Mabel took a step back, her guard up. "You're not Voldemort Grey! Who are you?"
Black mist billowed out, rising along the ground and up the pillars on both sides.
Mihal, perched on the railing, tilted its head and spread its wings, its body glowing with fire. The bright flames illuminated the eerie building, allowing Mabel to see the figure by the pillar clearly.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
It was a square, colorful box with a pair of eyed antennae on top, thin metal arms on the sides, and wheels at the bottom.
It resembled a peculiar toy, but the voice was indeed coming from it.
"Don't doubt it, I am speaking," the box 'walked' towards her and said, "Hello, I'm the Cube Puppet. Voldemort Grey is my master, and he gave me life himself. The others are like me."
Following its gesture, Mabel saw the firebird Mihal, a broom hovering in the air, and a cloak making a waving motion. Under the cloak seemed to be another figure.
She stared at the short and stout figure for a while, confirming that it couldn't be Voldemort, and asked, "Who is this gentleman?"
"I'm also a puppet," Peter Number Two added, "a humanoid puppet."
Mabel nodded as if she were calm, as if such things were common, but her mind was filled with astonishment.
During this time, with the help of newspapers, she had gained some knowledge about the wizarding world and was no longer completely ignorant. However, most of the puppets she had seen in the newspapers were in the form of small animals, and she hadn't encountered such bizarre ones.
Humanoid puppets were also rare because some wizards believed that these puppets endangered the security and ethics of the wizarding world, strongly opposing their production and sale, even advocating for the Ministry to ban them.
Of course, such a proposal was not approved, and it is said that very few people have anthropomorphic puppets.
"Why are you wearing a cloak?" Mabel asked curiously.
"Because my appearance would scare others and cause chaos." Peter No. 2 replied.
—How ugly would one have to be to cause chaos with just their appearance?
Mabel subconsciously had this thought, feeling strange that Vold would create such an odd and ugly puppet when he had so many other options.
Then she remembered why she had run out and asked, "Where is Mr. Grey?"
"That's why we're looking for you, Miss Mabel," the Cube Puppet said solemnly. "Our master has been captured by an evil Dark Wizard, and we need your help!"
Mabel's expression changed slightly, and she asked, "What happened?"
...
Vold was unaware that his aesthetic reputation was quietly being tarnished. He examined a cloak sent by Delaine.
The pure black, sleeved cloak was simple, with only one symbol of the Wizarding Supremacist Party on the chest and another on the back. The spacious pockets could easily hide an entire wand, and there were also several hidden pockets on the sides.
"Try it on," said the stern-faced witch with her hair in a bun. "It should fit just right."
Vold didn't refuse. He put on the cloak, pulled up the hood, and prepared to look at himself in the mirror, only to be surprised that he couldn't see his face!
The wide hood covered his entire head in shadow. Even with the bright light around him, Vold couldn't meet his own gaze in the mirror, nor could he make out his specific features.
The cloak also blurred his figure, and the silhouette in the mirror was indistinguishable in terms of gender or body shape, except for a general height.
Vold, now over 1.6 meters tall, put on the cloak, and no one could tell he was still a minor.
The witch behind him reached out, tugged at the hood from behind, but couldn't pull it off.
Vold pulled off the hood and silently watched her.
"As you can see, others cannot forcibly lift the hood. Only you can remove this hood yourself."
The witch explained, "The power of the Wizarding Supremacist Party is incomparable to what it used to be. It's crucial to conceal our identities during our actions—this is a lesson we've learned from our past painful experiences."
She put away her sewing kit and the basket full of fabric, sighed as she looked at Vold, and her eyes showed a hint of sympathy and pity.
"You're still so young, and yet you're joining their actions... Regardless, stay close to that gentleman, no matter what the situation—even if he asks you to walk into a sea of flames—never doubt him! Remember my words!"
A knock came from outside the door. The witch quickly composed herself, picked up her basket, and left the room with her head down.
Delaine stood at the door. He glanced at Vold and showed a satisfied expression. "Let's go, the gentleman is waiting for you."
The two of them put on their hoods and walked down the corridor. It was the first time Vold had seen this place.
It was a stone castle that might rival Hogwarts in scale. The thick stone walls were made of gray-brown boulders, and the corridor was covered in soft, exquisite carpets, making footsteps almost silent.
The windows at the top were small and dim, and the walls on both sides were adorned with countless candles. The candelabra below were twisted but incredibly lifelike human sculptures.
There were also paintings on the walls, but none of them moved, appearing to be ordinary Muggle paintings.
"Why should I cause chaos and bloodshed when you have bread, jobs, Gobstones, and Quidditch? Why should I disrupt your peaceful lives?"
"Because wizards still lack freedom and dignity! You wear the mask of peace, pretending to be content, but you're no different from caged beasts in a zoo! You're still afraid, still fearful, and still being hurt!"
"Can you pretend not to hear when it's not your blood being shed? Can you claim peace when it's not your loved ones being killed?"
"Wake up, wizards! The world is no different from fifty years ago, still filthy and ugly!"
"Words are pale and powerless, but today, I will show you the true face of the world!"
Grindelwald waved his wand, and the outermost ring of the chandelier suddenly spun and expanded, quickly descending. Some wizards scrambled to avoid it as the ring landed among them, slowly rotating.
After a moment, Deryn stepped forward and touched the ring, disappearing instantly.
Then one by one, two by two, three by three... countless wizards followed suit, moving faster and faster. The once-crowded hall quickly emptied.
Voldemort hesitated, then touched the ring as well, and his body was yanked into the air, surrounded by blurry afterimages. He felt himself flying at incredible speed.
Voldemort landed with a thud, and as soon as he steadied himself, a magical force pulled him forward.
"Boy, stay by my side," Grindelwald said.
Voldemort wondered how Grindelwald had recognized him among the crowd of identical figures. Once he got a clear view of his surroundings, he quickly cast multiple layers of protective spells around himself.
The other end of the key led to a completely unfamiliar place. A white building in the distance felt oddly familiar, and the Muggle soldiers were startled by the sudden invasion of wizards. They shouted and quickly grabbed their guns.
Inside the building, weapons were also moving, aiming at the crowd of wizards.
The black-robed wizards exuded a formidable aura, but not everyone had the quick reflexes needed. Many didn't even know basic protective spells.
After a few gunshots, several wizards were bleeding and screaming as they fell.
Grindelwald waved his wand forcefully, and a blue flame appeared out of thin air, quickly expanding. It surged past the wizards like a flood, heading towards the terrified Muggle soldiers.
"Fire! It's on fire!"
"It's the devil!"
"Shoot! Kill that man!"
The soldiers panicked, some trying to escape, others attempting to fight back. But in the blink of an eye, the flames reached them, and dozens of soldiers, still in defensive or running positions, instantly turned into piles of black ash.
The remaining soldiers lost all will to fight, dropping their guns and fleeing.
The weapons on the walls also twisted and deformed under the influence of magic, exploding with a deafening roar.
Voldemort witnessed some black-robed wizards being consumed by the blue flames, but a group of them fearlessly marched through the fire, unharmed.
Perhaps spurred by the blood and cries of their fallen comrades, or perhaps swept along with no choice, or maybe out of fear of Grindelwald... The black-robed wizards stepped through the flames, casting spells at the fleeing soldiers.
Not everyone was as ruthless as Grindelwald, but even those hit by stunning spells were soon engulfed by the pursuing flames.
"I know you were involved in the recent operation," Grindelwald suddenly said. "Does this place look familiar?"
"Is this another research base of that organization?" Voldemort asked.
"Research?" Grindelwald chuckled softly. "No, this is a place of transformation."
He waved his wand like a conductor, and the blue flames raged like a wild beast, devouring everything in their path. It felt as if even the air was burning, suffocating.
Voldemort followed Grindelwald, tightly gripping his wand. He glanced at the seemingly defenseless back in front of him, then averted his gaze, expressionless.
With a wave of his wand, an invisible iron shield deflected a bullet, and ripples of translucent energy appeared in the air.
"Boom!"
The deafening explosion caused the thick walls to collapse, and the leading wizard froze in shock.
He was one of Grindelwald's most loyal followers, well-trained and resolute.
But now, he stood frozen, his pupils dilating in fear, unable to react.
"What... what is this?" The wizard retreated in terror.
Beyond the wall, a scene of hell on earth unfolded before them.
(End of Chapter)
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