Chapter 676: The Plan
Chapter 676: The Plan
After securing what they needed, Liam and Hermione had lunch with Sirius Black at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Of course, the three of them prepared the meal together. It was only then that Ryan and the others learned that Molly was not there. Instead, she was living with Kreacher, Tonks, and Sirius's cousin in Hogsmeade.
"Although this place has a lot of protective magic and is very safe, it is still in a Dark Wizard-controlled area, with Dark Wizards even keeping watch at the entrance. Under these circumstances, we can't normally go out, and staying in this gloomy mansion all day is not good for the health of a pregnant woman and her fetus. So, I sent them to my cousin's place. Of course, I visit her whenever I have the chance."
"You're doing the right thing", Hermione said, using her wand to command the knife to cut the lamb into small pieces. She then sprinkled some seasonings from her wand and mixed them with the lamb in the pot. "From a medical perspective, pregnant women need to get plenty of sunlight and maintain a good mood. This place can't provide that, but in Hogsmeade, everything can be done easily."
"You're right", Sirius Black nodded, feeling quite moved. "Ever since Molly moved to Hogsmeade to live with Tonks and my cousin, she looks much better than when she was here."
"By the way, Sirius Black", Liam asked after chopping a pile of onions and putting them in the pot, covering it. "Didn't you say Narcissa Malfoy also lives in this house? Why haven't we seen her?"
"Ha, don't say you, even I only see her once or twice a week", Sirius Black said, making a face, which might have been due to the onions. "We've been trying to avoid each other ever since she moved in. I hardly ever go to the third floor, and my cousin and the two Malfoys try not to come down to the first floor. Kreacher delivers their meals every day, and they have everything they need upstairs."
So, after finishing lunch, Ryan and the others started eating. After the meal, they chatted over black tea for a while before saying goodbye to Sirius Black and leaving Number 12, Grimmaud Place, returning to their own manor.
"Alright, we've got what we needed. What's the next step?" Hermione asked directly as they returned to their manor. "Are we going to ambush lone Death Eaters at the entrances of their manors?"
"Not just ambushing lone Death Eaters", Liam shook his head. "We're going to do something much bigger, something that will undermine the very foundation of the Pureblood Families. Even with the help of Celestial Alchemists, we are still at a resource disadvantage. If we don't destroy the resource base of the Pureblood Families, we will only fail in this war of attrition."
"Is it really necessary to do this?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling. "Do we really need to destroy the cornerstones of the British magical community?"
"I don't want to, but it's a necessary evil", Liam said, looking at Hermione with an unprecedentedly serious tone. "It's easy to destroy but hard to rebuild. Once these things are destroyed, it will take a long time to rebuild them."
"But why—"
Before Hermione could finish, Liam interrupted her. "Because these things are now being used as weapons against us. They are mortgaged for money and resources, which are then used to hire Dark Wizards to attack us repeatedly. The Dark Lord waits in the shadows, ready to strike when our strength is weakened, to destroy everything we hold dear."
"Moreover, these places continuously produce supplies that give the Death Eaters more power to fight us and put many innocent people in danger. Since we can't find and eliminate the Dark Lord right now, this is the only way to curb the enemy's strength." Liam shook his head, looking somewhat helpless.
"I know you're right, but it's just hard to accept", Hermione said, gripping Liam's hand. "If we must do this, then I'll be with you. If we survive the war, I hope we can rebuild these things together, one house at a time."
After a lengthy discussion that afternoon, their first target was confirmed: a large magical plantation belonging to the Malfoy clan. Before the war, this plantation supplied 30% of Britain's potion needs.
"Although we don't know who controls that plantation now, we can confirm that it is indeed under the control of the Dark Lord. Additionally, according to the records, the Malfoy Clan's plantation, along with the Crabbe Clan and Goyle Clan's plantations, are all located together. If we're lucky, we can destroy them all at once", Hermione summarized after the group decided on their target.
The Malfoy family's plantation is located in Wiltshire and is a vast area that includes plains, woodlands, mountains, caves, marshes, and water surfaces. Combined with the Crabbe Clan and Goyle Clan's plantations, the total area is nearly 100 acres. After arriving above the plantation in a spaceship and seeing this, Ryan and the others had to urgently revise their plan.
"How can this plantation be so large?" In the living area of the spaceship, Hermione looked at the 3D map of the Malfoy plantation transmitted by the Scouting Orbs, her face filled with shock. "I always thought that a potion plantation would be like the greenhouses at Hogwarts, maybe just with more rooms."
"Magic plant cultivation is a very complex process. At least half of all magic plants are difficult to grow indoors or in greenhouses and must be cultivated in wild or semi-wild conditions. This is why the Malfoy Clan used to have a significant share in the supply of potion raw materials; most people don't have such vast cultivation grounds", Liam explained, waving his hand over the 3D map. The map instantly changed from a colorful sandbox to a translucent light blue. On the light blue map, Liam marked several colored light specks and about seven or eight buildings.
"Look, they used different terrains in conjunction with various magic arrays to create different climates and magical environments, forming semi-independent open-air plantations. This way, they can grow a wide variety of magic plants common to Eurasia and even the Americas in large quantities", Liam explained, pointing to the light specks. "These different colored light specks represent the various functions of the magic arrays, such as temperature regulation, humidity control, mana density, mana flow rate, and the ratio of different types of magic."
"What about the buildings marked out?" Rose Crystal, floating in the air, pointed to the buildings specifically circled on the map, curious. "I can only recognize some of them as greenhouses."
"You're correct", Liam nodded at Rose Crystal. "Some of these buildings are indeed greenhouses. Some magic plants are either aggressive or have extremely demanding survival requirements, making outdoor cultivation unsuitable. In such cases, fully enclosed greenhouses are necessary to ensure the plants' survival."
"The remaining buildings include rooms specifically for magic arrays, house-elf dormitories, laboratories or workshops for processing magic materials, and quarters for guards", Liam explained, pointing to each building on the map with his wand. However, his wand soon paused over a small room, and his magical power revealed a massive dimension beneath it.
"I'm not sure what this place is", Liam frowned. "When I visited France last time, I specifically discussed their plantation with Lucius Malfoy. According to him, this room was originally used as a potion warehouse with a small underground vault, but it certainly wasn't as large as a football field."
"We'll need to investigate this area thoroughly later", Hermione turned to Liam. "Now, we need to plan our action. The area is too large, so we need an efficient strategy."
(End of Chapter)
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