https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-700-The-Grangers-at-the-Leaky-Cauldron/12539189/
Chapter 701: The Dementor's Equipment Upgrade
Chapter 701: The Dementor's Equipment Upgrade
In the records of the Ministry of Magic, there was only one witch residing in Hertfordshire, located in the outskirts of London - Hermione Granger.
However, with Hermione away in Diagon Alley, there were only Muggles left in the area.
A bothersome haze hung over Hertfordshire, shrouding it in a murky fog as if a sandstorm had just blown through.
On the streets, a few pedestrians hurried along, their faces covered as they rushed by, tightly wrapped in their coats.
It was strange. Despite it being July, people were shivering as they walked, some even dressed in winter clothing.
"This weather is ridiculous... They ought to dock the pay of those folks at the Weather Bureau for a month!" grumbled a man, rubbing his hands together.
He was there to deliver some documents, unaware of the drop in temperature. As soon as he exited the subway, he felt as though he had stepped into a giant refrigerator. His thin clothes provided little warmth.
The man quickened his pace, eventually breaking into a jog. All he wanted was to deliver the documents and leave this bizarrely cold place.
Oddly enough, the faster he ran, the colder he felt.
Unbeknownst to him, his breathing became labored, and his head grew cloudy. Each breath he exhaled a white mist, something that only happened in the depths of winter.
A layer of frost formed on his suit, but the man paid it no mind. His legs moved stiffly, each step slower than the last...
Through the hazy fog, something floating in mid-air, cloaked in black, drifted above him like a ghost.
"Hiss... Puff..."
Accompanied by a sound like bellows drawing breath, the man's expression turned vacant. The joy he felt that morning from a promotion at work was gone, as was the excitement from celebrating with colleagues the night before... All memories associated with happiness were slowly fading away.
Terror gripped his heart, and he wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't obey. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take another step.
The Dementor hovering above removed its hood, having fed its fill.
In that moment, the man's vision blurred, and all color drained from his world...
Just as he was about to be engulfed in darkness, a silver light appeared.
The light was dazzling, like the sun, illuminating everything and dispelling the cold. His frozen body gradually regained sensation...
In his daze, he heard a voice.
"Cedric, do you think we should use the Obliviate spell on him?"
"What spell?" The man wondered, mustering all his strength to open his eyes.
He saw two teenagers, around seventeen or eighteen years old, and then he saw the silver light again... Or rather, a jellyfish floating in mid-air.
"This must be a dream," he thought. "How can a jellyfish float in the air?"
But the next second...
"Obliviate!"
Kyle sighed as he watched the man fall back into unconsciousness. "Why did you have to open your eyes at that moment? Now I can't make things simpler."
It was Kyle and Cedric who had arrived. In fact, their previous appearance at the Leaky Cauldron was also due to their mission to deal with the Dementor issue.
Having learned from Hermione that something was amiss in this area, they had come straight here and managed to rescue the man.
The silver jellyfish the man had seen earlier was, of course, Kyle's Patronus.
Kyle waved his wand, moving the man to the side of the road next to a mailbox.
"Will he be alright here?" Cedric asked as he walked over and pushed a piece of chocolate into the man's mouth.
"He'll be fine," Kyle replied. "I know what I'm doing, and he's had some chocolate now. He should wake up in a few minutes."
"Even if someone sees him in the meantime, they'll just think he's drunk..." Kyle added, "He's had quite a bit to drink, and the smell of alcohol hasn't worn off yet."
"Alright then." Cedric stood up and looked at the silver jellyfish floating beside Kyle, as well as the Dementor that was bound by its tentacles and struggling futilely.
"What should we do with this Dementor? Are we taking it back?"
"No need," Kyle shook his head. "It tried to feed on that man's soul, so let's just deal with it here."
As Kyle finished speaking, more tentacles wrapped around the Dementor... Like ice thrown into a furnace, the Dementor melted at a visible rate, soon leaving only a tattered black cloak.
Cedric waved his wand, conjuring a flame that reduced the cloak to ashes.
"That's a bit of a waste, isn't it?" Kyle remarked.
"A waste?" Cedric looked at him quizzically. "What use is it? Are you suggesting someone could make clothes out of it?"
"Of course not," Kyle said, "And even if they did, no one would wear them. But I've been thinking about suggesting a bounty system to Fudge, offering a reward for each Dementor captured or killed, payable in Galleons at the Ministry of Magic."
"Are you serious?" Cedric thought Kyle was being a bit fanciful.
Aside from whether the Ministry would agree to such an expense, how would they verify the killing of a Dementor? They couldn't send someone to supervise each case... Not every Patronus was as stealthy as Kyle's, capable of capturing a Dementor without a sound.
"Never mind, forget I said anything," Kyle sighed, realizing this and no longer thinking about profiting from the situation.
At that moment, the man on the ground suddenly stirred.
Kyle quickly dismissed his Patronus, and together with Cedric, they pretended to be passersby and walked forward.
"Where are we going now...?" Cedric asked, "According to the clues from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, there have been traces of Dementors in Surrey and Buckinghamshire."
"No hurry..." Kyle looked up at the sky, "This level of haze couldn't have been caused by just one Dementor. Let's keep looking."
The two arrived at an open space, cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves, and then lifted their legs as if mounting something.
Then, they took off into the air.
Invisible brooms swept through the sky; they had specially requested this feature from the broom shop before their departure to facilitate their movements, a common preparation for Aurors when pursuing Dementors.
The two hovered in mid-air, and after half an hour, Cedric suddenly pointed to a secluded street.
"Look over there..."
Kyle followed his finger and indeed discovered the second Dementor.
However, unlike the previous one, this Dementor merely sucked greedily at a Muggle before preparing to leave, showing no intention of giving him the 'kiss'.
"Should we kill this one directly?" Cedric asked.
"Let me negotiate first..."
Kyle turned his broomstick and flew towards the Dementor.
In Cedric's eyes, Kyle was actually talking to the Dementor, and it seemed to understand him!
When did he learn to speak Dementor language... Do they even teach that at the Ministry these days?
But before Cedric could ponder for long, he saw Kyle raise his wand.
A cluster of golden-red flames appeared out of thin air, forming the shape of a fire dragon, and instantly turning the Dementor into ashes.
"Negotiations failed..." Kyle shrugged at Cedric, "It wasn't very willing to go back to work for the Ministry... Finite Incantatem!"
Kyle inserted his wand into the ground, and the lingering flames immediately extinguished.
"That's understandable," Cedric said as he also pushed a piece of chocolate into the mouth of the Muggle who had just been attacked.
After doing all this, the two were about to leave, but then Kyle noticed something on the ground.
Just below where the Dementor had been hovering, there was a small pile of black substance, resembling dust.
Kyle was surprised. He hadn't expected anything to remain after the Blasting Curse.
Following the principle of not wasting anything, Kyle found a bottle and used his wand to funnel all of the 'dust' into it."
"What do you want that for?" Cedric asked.
"Just in case it's useful," Kyle replied.
Even snake sheddings from a Serpent-worm could be used to brew potions; perhaps these remnants from the Dementor could be of use as well.
Even if it couldn't be used for potions, there was always alchemy... Something that could withstand the Blasting Curse must have some value.
Kyle picked up the bottle and examined it, "Hmm, maybe offering a bounty isn't entirely impossible..."
"You're still thinking about that..." Cedric rubbed his forehead, "This is a Dementor we're talking about. The reward can't be too low, but to do that, you'll need a large sum of money. Do you think Fudge will agree?
"After all, we don't have the Malfoys sponsoring the Ministry anymore."
"It's worth a shot. You never know," Kyle said.
There were too many Dementors scattered across the country, and it would likely take a year or more for the Aurors and just the two of them to clear them all out.
Moreover, he would be returning to school soon, so he had to think of other solutions... As for whether it would work or not, that was another matter to consider.
With the elimination of the two Dementors, the haze in the sky had also thinned out significantly, now only a thin layer remained.
This was a normal phenomenon; at the moment, all of Britain, including the Ministry and Diagon Alley, was like this. As long as there were Dementors outside, these conditions would persist.
Although there was still some influence, it was negligible. The temperature had risen considerably, and the sunlight, piercing through the haze, felt warm and pleasant.
They flew around some more, and only after confirming that there were no more Dementors nearby did they head elsewhere.
Both the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Auror Office kept a record book of locations where Dementors had appeared, although it wasn't entirely accurate, it served as a reference.
Cedric flipped open the book...
"Perfect, someone spotted a Dementor in Cambridgeshire not far from here. Do you want to go?"
"Of course,"
...
To eradicate the Dementors as soon as possible, the two of them flew around like this for two whole days. Whenever they felt exhausted, they would take a swig of the Wakening Potion. It was only on the evening of the third day that they finally returned to the Leaky Cauldron.
By then, Cedric was already out of breath. After flying for so long, his legs were trembling, and he sat there, panting.
"What have you two been up to?" Fred and George, having received the news, hurried over and eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm just kidding, no need to get worked up." Fred chuckled as he sat down beside them. "But seriously, where did you two disappear to?"
No one answered him.
Cedric was too lazy to bother, and Kyle simply didn't feel like talking.
He was even more exhausted than Cedric.
Ever since discovering that Dementors could drop items, he had stopped using the Patronus Charm and instead opted to cast a Blasting Curse at those unwilling to cooperate.
The Blasting Curse was an extremely taxing piece of dark magic, and when coupled with the Finite Incantatem spell, it left him drained. It was impressive that he could still stand at all.
However, their efforts had paid off.
Kyle's bottle was now full, and he planned to ask Dumbledore or Nico what use this substance could have.
After resting for a while and wolfing down some fried pork chops and hot cocoa, the two finally felt somewhat rejuvenated.
"Where's Hermione?" Kyle asked, placing his empty cup on the table.
"She went to see her parents." Fred replied.
"But at this hour, I think they should be coming down for dinner... Oh, here they are."
As he spoke, the three of them descended the stairs.
"Kyle?"
Hermione immediately rushed over. "Hello, Cedric..."
"Hello." Cedric replied.
"Kyle, I've been looking for you these past few days, but they said you weren't at the Ministry of Magic." Hermione looked at Kyle and asked, "Where have you been?"
"I had something to take care of." Kyle said, "What's the matter? Are your parents not settling in well here?"
"No, it's not that." Hermione said, "I came to return the money."
She handed a bag of Galleons to Kyle.
"So soon...?" Kyle blinked, "Did you rob Gringotts?"
Earning fifty Galleons in just a couple of days was only possible if you robbed Gringotts.
"Of course not." Hermione said, "Don't forget that Muggle-born witches and wizards like us can exchange pounds for Galleons."
"You can exchange that much?" Kyle was surprised.
"Yes." Hermione nodded, "But after twenty Galleons, the amount of pounds required increases significantly, making it not very cost-effective."
"Then why bother exchanging it so quickly?" Kyle didn't understand, "I'm not asking for interest, so why rush?"
"It's fine." Hermione smiled, "Ron's brother Bill used to work at Gringotts, remember? He told us that gold and jewels are also considered hard currency there, so we found a way to exchange some.
"Even though it's still more expensive than the standard five pounds to one Galleon rate, Bill found a friendly goblin who gave us a better deal."
Hearing Hermione's explanation, Kyle put away the Galleons.
"In that case, I have some good news for you too." He said, casually taking the Butterbeer Fred had ordered and taking a sip.
Cedric followed suit, snatching George's drink.
"Hey, that's mine!" Fred complained.
"Don't be so stingy, just order another one." Kyle said nonchalantly.
"Wait, what do you mean there are no more Dementors?" Hermione asked, confused.
"We've been working on that issue these past few days." Kyle took another sip of Butterbeer, "To be honest, you made the right choice moving to Diagon Alley. There were quite a few Dementors around Hertfordshire.
"But they're gone now, so your parents can move back home whenever they like."
Huh?
Hermione was a little stunned because she wasn't sure if this was good news or not.
Strictly speaking, it definitely was, as it meant she no longer had to worry about Dementors threatening her parents.
But the problem was, she had just spent fifty Galleons renting a room here for a month.
If they moved out now, could she get a refund?
Hermione glanced at the pub owner, her intuition telling her that a refund was out of the question.
Fifty Galleons was a small fortune, enough to last her through her years at Hogwarts.
"Th-thank you..." Hermione stammered, her hand over her chest.
For the first time, she felt that the Ministry of Magic's actions could have been a little slower.
But soon, Hermione adjusted her mindset.
Just because the Dementors in Hertfordshire were gone didn't mean there weren't any left. What if they came back from somewhere else?
It was still safer in Diagon Alley, and she could consider the money spent as an investment for her parents to learn more about the wizarding world.
After the initial tension, they had actually been quite happy these past few days.
Her mother had taken a liking to the clothes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and her father had become fascinated with various potions and a toothpaste said to contain Fire-Coral toothpowder.
The toothpaste was ridiculously expensive, but he had gritted his teeth and bought a tube.
If they were asked to move back now, they might not be too happy about it.
(End of Chapter)
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