Chapter 699: Anonymous Letter
Chapter 699: Anonymous Letter
The day before Christmas, Liam and Hermione spent the entire day traveling in a spaceship to place a batch of magical artifacts for data collection at seven pre-selected locations. By the time the sun began to set, casting everything in a warm orange glow, Ryan and the others finally dragged their tired bodies back to Hogsmeade.
"We can retrieve those magic items the morning after tomorrow", Liam said to Hermione as they stepped through the thick snow into the town's main gate and onto the street. "We need to analyze the magical flow at those locations throughout the day to determine the most suitable spots. Then, we'll arrange the planting of different magic plants based on the magical flow at the chosen locations."
"After a full day of surveying, I can tell this is a rather complex task", Hermione remarked, rubbing her aching back from setting up the magical instruments. "By the way, just how much stuff do you have stored? When we opened the portal, I saw that the materials for building three manors only filled one warehouse, yet that place has nearly a hundred warehouses."
"Uh, that's for large-scale wars or disasters in several worlds", Liam explained. "I have similar clusters of warehouses in different worlds, and the one in the post-apocalyptic world is just one of them. Each cluster can sustain the lives of 100,000 people for three months, and it also contains enough magic raw materials to support 3,000 ordinary wizards for half a year under normal conditions."
"So this is modern national reserves?" Hermione murmured. "No wonder you could destroy those important production facilities in the British Wizarding World without hesitation, knowing you could fill the gaps."
"Exactly", Liam nodded seriously. "Most of the products from Weasley's Joke Shop are currently being produced using these reserves, but I believe once these plantations are established, we can achieve local supply very soon."
"What about the demand for magic ores?" Hermione asked. "Before we discovered new mines, did you rely entirely on similar ores from other worlds to fill the gap?"
"Don't forget the trade with China and the underground trade in Europe", Liam leaned slightly toward Hermione and said, "During our battles, the Hogsmeade Ministry of Magic didn't sit idle. They have successfully reclaimed over 60% of the overseas trade channels that were in place before the war. That's enough for us, as Britain wasn't a major producer of magic ores and primarily relied on imports."
Hermione nodded after listening to Liam's explanation. At that moment, an owl flew over and dropped a letter on them.
"It's Christmas Eve tonight. Who would write to us at this time?" Hermione picked up the letter after a quick inspection. "Oh—this is actually an anonymous letter."
"An anonymous letter?" Liam's interest was piqued. He was curious about why someone would go to such lengths to send him such a thing.
Given the current state of alert in Hogsmeade, it was impossible to send such a letter using an ordinary owl from outside the town. The only way was to release the owl from within Hogsmeade. Most people who sent anonymous letters were not friendly, and Liam couldn't figure out why someone would go to great lengths to sneak into town just to send a letter.
"The envelope only contains a photo", Hermione said after thoroughly inspecting it. She then handed the photo to Liam. "The object in the photo is quite strange—looks like a wine glass, but with a shorter stem."
Liam took the photograph and examined it carefully, noticing that it was quite old. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the object in the photo wasn't a Goblet of Fire, but a strange cauldron with a single leg. The cauldron was encased in a transparent substance, which was placed on a Stone Platform.
Since the person who took the photo was quite far from the Stone Platform, everything on it appeared small and somewhat blurry. This was why Hermione had mistaken it for a goblet.
"Let's go to the location in the photo first", Liam suggested, his curiosity piqued. "We still have some time before dinner, and the place is in Hogsmeade, so it shouldn't be too dangerous."
"You're right", Hermione agreed after a moment's thought. "If I remember correctly, it's not far from the Weasley family's temporary residence. We can check it out first."
They walked along the main road of the town for about three or four minutes before turning onto a path leading towards the Hog's Head. Soon, they arrived at the row of houses indicated in the photo. It was already dark, but the candles hanging from the trees and the streetlights illuminated everything clearly.
"Let me check, South District 7A", Liam muttered, reading the house number. They quickly found themselves at the gate of South District 7A. It was a typical new house in Hogsmeade, a two-story building with a red brick exterior, a pointed black roof, and small windows for ventilation in the attic.
"It looks like no one's home", Hermione said, peering through the iron gate at the house. This was evident because, being Christmas Eve, most houses in Hogsmeade were decorated with mistletoe and lights. The house in front of them, however, was completely dark and undecorated.
Of course, this wasn't unusual. Many of the temporary houses were unoccupied, as they had been built with extra capacity. Several houses on this street were also unoccupied.
However, this house was different. The snow on the iron gate had melted and fallen to the ground, and there were footprints leading from the gate into the yard, all the way to the front door.
"Alohomora", Hermione cast the Unlocking Charm on the iron gate, and it swung open. These unoccupied houses generally had no magical defenses. After crossing the small yard, Liam sent a series of pink lights through the door and window gaps to check for any dangers. Once he was sure the house was safe, he used the same Alohomora Charm to open the front door.
"Lumos", Liam lit his wand as they entered the house. The interior was similar to the other houses on the street, with simple furniture. The environment was good, so even after two months of vacancy, the house was relatively clean.
"Let's search the place for any clues", Liam said to Hermione. "I checked for magical fluctuations, so there's no need to worry about Portkeys or anything. But for safety, don't touch anything unusual."
"Got it", Hermione nodded and followed Liam, wand at the ready. Since the temporary housing was not large, they quickly searched the ground floor and the basement, finding nothing out of the ordinary. However, when they reached the second-floor workroom, they discovered something that shouldn't have been there on the worktable.
(End of Chapter)
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