Chapter 590: Finding Someone
Chapter 590: Finding Someone (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote!)
"You... that was Hogwarts Castle just now. How did you, how did you get out?" After the three of them appeared in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest, Malfoy spoke with an extremely shocked tone.
"You don't need to know that." Liam said coldly. "Right now, you only need to tell us where your mother is."
"Wiltshire, England—" Malfoy revealed the location of his home and then asked, "But you've never been there before, and since the Dark Lord made our Manor his headquarters, the Floo Network there has been shut down. How are we supposed to get there?"
"I have my own way, but you need to be blindfolded. You can't see what's coming next." Liam said, gesturing for Hermione to blindfold Malfoy. Then, he took a small silver-white remote from his Spatial Bag and pressed the red button. Soon, a spaceship about the size of a bus descended from the sky.
This was the small spaceship they had brought from the Men in Black world. After completing the map of the Radiation World, Liam had kept it in low Earth orbit as a satellite. The spaceship's stealth engine ensured it remained undetected by others.
After pushing Malfoy onto the spaceship, Liam recited the specific location of Malfoy Manor. A few seconds later, the spaceship appeared beside the Manor.
"We're here." After everyone disembarked, Liam removed Malfoy's blindfold as the spaceship flew higher into the night sky until it disappeared.
"Th—This—" Malfoy looked around, his face showing surprise again, but Liam quickly interrupted him. "Alright, tell us how to get in. We're taking your mother out now."
"Follow me." Malfoy finally perked up a bit and led Liam and the others down a path between tall hedges and low shrubs, arriving at a wide driveway. At the end of the driveway stood a grand iron gate.
"Now, just raise your left hand and walk through. Any other method will trigger the defensive magic." Malfoy explained as they approached the iron gate. He then raised his left arm silently, as if saluting, and walked through the gate, which seemed to part like smoke.
"No problem." Liam drew his wand and tapped the air a few times before he and Hermione raised their left hands and walked through the iron gate. Beyond the gate was a lawn where a few white peacocks seemed to be resting. The large lawn, however, looked neglected and a bit overgrown.
At the far end of the lawn stood a three-story manor with an attic, which Liam thought was more luxurious than his own. No wonder it belonged to a wealthy family.
In the quiet, the three of them hurried across the gravel path on the lawn to the manor's front door. The house likely had some convenience magic, so when Malfoy approached the door, it opened automatically without anyone coming to greet them.
"Wait." Liam held back Malfoy, who was eager to rush upstairs, and looked at Hermione. Hermione, squinting her eyes, used her understanding of the Death Law to sense the life within the manor. Soon, she opened her eyes and whispered, "There are three people in the house. One is at the end of the corridor on the first floor, watching the corridor. Another is in a bedroom on the second floor, apparently sleeping. The third is in the bedroom at the end of the left corridor on the third floor, pacing restlessly."
"Our mother should be on the third floor", Malfoy whispered. Since things had come to this point, he had no choice but to follow Liam and the others. Voldemort was not the kind of person who was lenient with his subordinates. "I don't know who the other two are, but I can confirm they are both Death Eaters. The Dark Lord hasn't kept his captives here."
"Good, then we don't have to worry about accidental injuries. Wait here", Liam said. He and Hermione simultaneously became invisible and moved forward along the corridor lined with luxurious carpet. Standing in the hall, Malfoy was surprised to find that the thick, plush carpet on the corridor showed no traces of their passage.
The person sitting in the room at the end of the corridor, who seemed to be a guard, was nodding off, apparently dozing. It was no wonder; under normal circumstances, no one would dare to barge into Voldemort's lair to cause trouble. Therefore, it was quite natural for the guard to relax a bit while on duty.
So, in his invisible state, Liam easily circled around behind the guard and used another opal-encrusted steel spike to pierce the back of his neck, killing him.
"What was that? I saw you use it just now", Hermione asked through the Phoenix Mark as they ascended the stairs. "Was it poisoned? It seems like you just needed to stab it into the enemy's body to kill them."
"No", Liam replied as the two of them reached the door of a bedroom on the second floor. Using Alohomora to unlock the door, they saw a Wizard with Middle Eastern features sitting up in bed, reaching for his wand on the nightstand.
In an instant, a white and a red light orb flew from Liam and Hermione's wands, striking him. Hermione's red light orb hit first, causing his upper body to melt away. Then, Liam's lightning ball ended his suffering, blasting his upper body into pieces that scattered around the room.
"Good thing I stopped it, the smell of blood really sticks to you and is quite unpleasant", Hermione said, lowering her wand and dispelling the Armor Charm she had used as a barrier. "By the way, you still haven't answered my question."
"I got the idea from that deadly opal necklace", Liam explained as they walked out of the room and he gently closed the door, leading the way upstairs. "I replicated the instant death effect from the necklace and made it a one-time use item to prevent the enemy from using it against us."
"That sounds impressive, but why haven't you ever used it before? Is it because it's too expensive to produce in large quantities?" Hermione asked, recalling the 1500 Galleon necklace. If it cost that much, it would indeed be difficult to use it as a one-time consumable, even if it was effective.
"No, the materials inside can be replaced with cheaper alternatives, so the cost of each one is only about 20 Galleons. The main issue is that this item can only be used by a few people, including us."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.
"To prevent the enemy from easily blocking it with magic, I designed it to be anti-magic. The advantage is that it can penetrate magical defenses, but the downside is that it requires physical strength to use. Do you know anyone, besides Hagrid and us, who could take down a fully armored Wizard with physical force alone?"
"Crossbow or high-pressure air crossbow—" Hermione suggested, having learned from Liam about his expertise in various traps and magical items.
"Those are a bit bulky and can affect the user's agility. Additionally, even with those, special training is required to use them effectively. However, your suggestion gave me an idea. I can make a batch of these for the new Werewolves who can't use magic in their Giant Wolf form, giving them some ranged attack capability in that state", Liam said. "Alright, let's talk more later. We're here."
By this time, they had reached the door of a bedroom on the third floor, where their target should be.
(End of Chapter)
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