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Voldemort probably never imagined that someone would come here carrying a large amount of dragon blood.
This magical blood is indeed very suitable...
Kyle threw the bottle straight over.
A dazzling white outline of an arch appeared on the wall of the cave. The rock covered with dragon blood in the arch suddenly disappeared, revealing a doorway with seemingly endless darkness inside.
Kreacher ran excitedly through the doorway and the others followed him in, lighting their wands.
Before their eyes was a very strange scene. They were standing on the shore of a huge black lake, which was extremely vast and boundless. The cave they were in was also very high, and they could not see the top of the cave when they looked up.
In the distance, as if in the middle of the lake, there was a hazy, green light flashing.
Kreacher ran around the lakeshore with ease, his footsteps echoing on the narrow rocks by the lake.
Soon, Kreacher stopped, he identified the surrounding scene, then stretched out his hand and slowly moved it in the air, as if trying to find and grab something invisible.
But maybe it was because he was too short, he didn’t get any results after rowing for a long time.
On the contrary, Dumbledore's hand was suspended in the air and he actually caught something.
He pulled out his wand and tapped his fist with the tip.
Immediately, a thick green copper chain suddenly emerged from the lake and rushed towards Dumbledore's clenched fist.
The chain pulled something up from the dark bottom of the lake, and Sirius watched in amazement as the bow of a small boat emerged from the surface of the lake like a ghost and floated towards where they stood, barely causing a ripple.
"This is……"
"I think Voldemort needs a way to cross the lake smoothly in case he needs to visit or remove his Horcruxes, so as not to anger the creatures he placed in the lake."
The ship has docked.
Kreacher and Sirius jumped onto the boat almost at the same time, followed by Dumbledore.
The boat was so small that after two adults and a house-elf got on, there was only a palm-sized space left.
"Kyle, you stay here. Fawkes will accompany you." Dumbledore said, "And Voldemort is likely to have cast a spell on this boat. Once the magical power carried on the boat is too much, it will sink to the bottom of the lake."
"That's right." Sirius nodded again and again, "And this boat is too small. Even if it is a normal boat, it can't bear the weight of three people."
Kyle suspected that they did it on purpose and just didn't want him to go, but he had no evidence.
Because what they said was right, when Dumbledore went up, the boat suddenly sank a lot. At this time, the edge of the boat was less than an inch away from the lake surface. Let alone adding another person, even a cat would be difficult to get on.
but……
"Gentlemen," Kyle asked with a strange expression, "Do you remember why you came here this time?"
"To find Regulus, of course!" Sirius blurted out.
"If that's the case, then why did you take the boat?" Kyle looked at the dark lake water. "I think the water here was probably made into another form of potion by Voldemort. Any creature dragged into it will slowly be assimilated into a member of the Inferi over time, so wouldn't it be the same if we acted here? Why do we have to go to the middle of the lake?
Although Regulus was dragged in from there, no one can guarantee that he will be left there."
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 449: Clearing Performance (Thanks to the leader of the Wheel of Fortune who likes to play pranks, additional chapter 25)
The two people standing on the boat suddenly felt as if a cold wind was blowing, blowing on their slightly hot cheeks.
Yes, they didn't have to go to the center of the lake to get the fake locket, so why did they have to take a boat?
Dumbledore reacted the fastest. He naturally lifted his feet and returned to the shore from the boat.
"Oh, when people get old, they can't live without sleep. Their brains are not working well enough... But I think you should want to take a look at Voldemort's designs. This is probably it. They are all his usual methods. There has never been any change in decades."
"Yeah, you're right." Kyle smiled.
Fox on his shoulder immediately turned his head away, seeming to be very interested in the bare rock wall.
Sirius and Kreacher also reacted at this time and followed him down the boat quickly.
It does save time here than going to the center of the lake, and after finding Regulus, we can leave faster.
After everyone got off, the boat returned to the lake and disappeared.
Sirius stood on the shore, looking at the calm lake and said, "Should we touch the water here to attract those monsters?"
Although he asked this, he didn't seem to need an answer. While he was talking, he had already arrived at the lake and reached his hand into the cold water as Kreacher described.
This action seemed to trigger some kind of switch. A white arm stretched out from the lake, quickly grabbed Sirius' arm, and dragged him into the lake.
At the same time, the surface of the lake was no longer as smooth as a mirror, but was churning violently. White arms and heads emerged from the dark water everywhere and rushed to the shore at a very fast speed.
"Let go of the young master!" Kreacher shouted and stretched out his finger. As if he had used a repelling spell or something, the Inferi let go of Sirius and fell back into the water with a splash.
However, more Inferi had already crawled out, grabbing the slippery rocks with their withered hands, staring at Sirius with their hollow eyes.
Sirius quickly retreated to the shore, took out his wand, and carefully identified the face of each Inferi as he retreated. Only after he was sure that it was not Regulus... would he use a spell to knock the other person back into the water.
Soon, six or seven Yin corpses were knocked down, but more came.
Kyle and Dumbledore also stepped forward to help.
Among them, Dumbledore performed the most easily. He didn't need to chant any spells at all. Just waved his wand and the monsters flew back into the water, unable to climb out again.
For Dumbledore, it was too easy to deal with this guy who couldn't use magic.
If he wasn't worried about accidentally hurting Regulus, he would have many more efficient ways.
Kyle was also constantly casting petrification spells nearby, attacking those guys who couldn't possibly be Regulus.
Everyone had a clear division of labor. Sirius acted as bait in the front, Kreacher was responsible for finding Regulus, and Kyle and Dumbledore provided spell support in the back. The three people and one elf cooperated very well.
After using a few petrification spells, Kyle looked at the number of enemies that never decreased and couldn't help but say, "It would be great if we could use the Fiendish Fire Curse and put it around Sirius to ensure that no matter how many of those guys come, they will die."
Hearing Kyle's words, Dumbledore's hand holding the wand paused slightly, and the spell around Sirius also paused for a moment.
Although it was brief, Sirius was submerged, those cold arms lifting him from the ground and moving slowly, but surely, towards the Black Lake.
"Everyone retreat!"
Dumbledore quickly waved his wand and rescued Sirius.
"There is such a spell, but it cannot be used now." He whispered, "The fire will make them retreat instinctively, making it more difficult for us to find Regulus."
"Do you know how to do it?" Kyle asked, "I can teach you..."
"No!" Dumbledore interrupted Kyle.
He was silent for a moment before continuing, "The Fiery Curse is a high-end black magic. Although I don't know how you learned it, I must tell you that this black magic is extremely dangerous and difficult to control. If you don't have to, it's best not to use it.
If you are really interested, I can teach you another spell, which is a variation of the Fire Spell and is relatively safer."
"What is..."
"Master Regulus!"
Just as Kyle was about to ask, he heard an excited scream from Kreacher not far away.
Then he rushed towards the tide of zombies desperately, trying to drag one person out, and let the other person scratch and bite him without letting go.
Kyle looked over subconsciously. It was a very young man, whose face had long lost all color and had become pale and shrunken. But everyone, including Kyle, could recognize him at a glance. He was Regulus.
Because he looked so much like Sirius who had just escaped from Azkaban.
Kreacher dragged Regulus to the rocks at the entrance and held him in his arms, crying and screaming.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Sirius' laughter echoed in the empty cave, as if what was chasing him was not a terrible monster, but hundreds of cute moon beasts.
Dumbledore also smiled, turned to Kyle and said, "I was just worrying about how to describe the effect of the spell to you. Now it seems that it is not necessary. Come closer to me..."
Kyle nodded and immediately took a few steps forward.
Then Dumbledore raised his wand, and flames suddenly shot out from the tip of the wand.
The dark cave was lit up.
Bright, golden-red flames rolled around Dumbledore, following the turning of the wand like waves, and continued to grow stronger.
There was a sharp crackling sound all around, and the original cold and damp feeling disappeared instantly, becoming extremely hot.
When Dumbledore extended his wand again, the flames surged and condensed into a huge golden-red tsunami, rushing forward.
In the blink of an eye, there was an empty road at least ten feet wide in front of Kyle, with two hot walls of fire extending forward on both sides, as if they stretched across the entire lake, with no end in sight.
Kyle was stunned.
He was originally thinking about whether to release Norbert to clear the situation, but he didn't expect... Dumbledore's move was much more powerful than the dragon.
Dumbledore put away his wand, looked at Kyle's expression, and nodded with satisfaction.
"How about it, have you made up your mind?" He asked with a smile, "Do you want to learn the Fiery Curse, or this one?"
"Professor, I want to learn this." Kyle said without hesitation.
After getting the answer, Dumbledore was more satisfied.
That's right, what's the point of using the Fierce Fire Curse to draw a circle around you? It's useless to learn it, it's a waste of time.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 450: Clever Fudge
When everyone passed through the arch and returned to the cave outside, it was already dawn.
The early morning sun dispelled the cold and darkness, shining on the sea, creating golden ripples.
A group of seagulls landed on a rock not far away and looked at Fawkes on Kyle's shoulder curiously, but when Kreacher began to cry at the top of his voice again, they were scared and all flew away.
Everyone waited outside for ten minutes, and Dumbledore, who was in charge of the aftermath, finally came out.
He didn't explain what he did during those ten minutes, and no one else asked.
"I need to take Regulus away," he said. "Severus should be able to restore him to a human being instead of the state he is in now."
"I'm going too!" Sirius said immediately.
Although he and Snape didn't get along, he risked his life for Regulus.
At worst, he would just not talk back when Snape teased him.