allendalepharm Chapter 331 Voldemort's Treasure
Chapter 331 Voldemort's Treasure
Chapter 331 Voldemort's Treasure
Whether it's facing fate head-on or actively seeking a breakthrough in life—
Or should we follow the guidance of fate and actively enhance the characteristics bestowed upon us by fate?
Or perhaps it's about transcending fate and confronting one's true beliefs—
Under Lockhart's influence, Snape, Sirius Black, and Lupin all quietly embarked on their own paths, following the concept of "fairytale adventure."
So they all made the same decision.
They all came to Lockhart, hoping to participate in this time-traveling adventure.
Lockhart naturally agreed.
As for the students, Harry Potter is eager to get involved, and interestingly, Draco and Ron are also eager to go along.
In fact, many young wizards want to get involved.
But it must be said that many people have found their own path, such as Hermione.
She is probably the busiest member of the Duel Club, heavily involved in the Quidditch Duel Tournament project, leveraging the network of relationships built up by the Hakimi Project, and also involved in the affairs of the Duel Club Gazette.
After examining Muggle internet forums and the Ministry of Magic's indeterminate information magic, the young wizards had a vague idea in mind.
For example, instead of print newspapers, could we create a platform that can update information in real time and display information based on subscriptions?
This touches upon a very unique discipline—modern mysticism.
Hermione's suggestions were quickly rejected by the young wizards.
The Weasley brothers, in particular, felt this all too deeply. Their father, Arthur Weasley, had recently been punished for inventing a flying car, which triggered his own law, the "Muggle Articles Ordinance," prohibiting the misuse of Muggle items.
Many of Hermione's ideas and thoughts are torture, the kind of torture that leads to being sent to Azkaban.
But this did not dampen Hermione's enthusiasm. She decided to get more involved in the Duelist Journal project led by Cassius and actively helped look up various materials.
She actually found a bit of magic within the scope of current laws—the Book of Truth.
It was a kind of magic that displayed words on stone tablets (similar to Tom Riddle's diary). This kind of magic was widely used in ancient times for simple feedback purposes such as recording the wisdom of elders, riddles, and pranks.
George and Fred were very enthusiastic about this and listed it as a project that the research lab "must tackle quickly".
In short, too many young wizards had things they desperately wanted to do, and in the end, only three young wizards followed Lockhart on his time-traveling adventure.
None of the three of them are pure; they are not adventuring out of a desire for magic.
Harry Potter knew what Lockhart was planning to do against Voldemort and hoped to get involved to learn more about Voldemort.
Draco, burdened by his family's honor, deeply understood his father's difficulties and helplessness in the current situation. He resolved to follow his father's teachings and dedicate himself to Lockhart's path. Whatever the professor did, he'd just follow along and get involved!
Ron, on the other hand, was a confused child. He had just listened to the sharing session of several professors from the Duel Club and was deeply puzzled about his future life and destiny. He habitually followed the professors as if he were looking for someone to rely on.
His heart was filled with confusion and fear.
As a Weasley child, and as someone who prides himself on being the greatest Gryffindor champion.
He dared not tell his family and friends about a secret that had happened to him—he could no longer cast the Guardian Charm!
Yes, I don't know when it started, maybe it was the day Peter Pettigrew was imprisoned in Azkaban, but his heart felt empty and he could no longer summon the power of the Patronus Charm.
He even vaguely sensed a subtle affinity for the Cruciatus Curse, one of the Unforgivable Curses.
This frightened him.
Is he going to become a dark wizard?
Do not!
Absolutely not!
If he were to become a dark wizard, he would be a disgrace to the Weasley family and a sworn enemy of his good friends Harry, Hermione, and Neville.
he----
I don't know what to do.
Ron immediately thought of Professor Lockhart, seeking guidance and salvation from this wise man, as if grasping at a straw before drowning.
However, upon seeing his pained expression, Professor Lockhart burst into laughter, then said mysteriously, "Ron, congratulations, your life's adventure has officially begun!"
and then?
That's all.
As Professor Lockhart said, "You have to walk your own path, experience it yourself, and make your own choices."
Ron became even more confused, looking ahead to see only endless fog and the shadowy figures of ghosts howling within it.
But no matter what, take that step bravely.
Staying in the same place will get you nothing!
set off!
Lockhart summoned two assistants, but he actually only called Ms. Mary, who had the blood of the Axley family, who possessed the power of time magic, and Lockhart always called on her for time-related experiments.
Another person who came along was Auror Nymphadora Tonks. She was practically an agent of Lockhart's Auror corps. She came along mainly because Voldemort had gone to the Department of Mysteries' Bloodline Hall, and she didn't want to be alone with Voldemort and Bellatrix.
"I thought you no longer needed me now that you had that serpent." Lady Mary smiled as she pulled a time-turner from her wizard's robe pocket, drew her wand, and began to cast a spell.
Lockhart shrugged. "In the vast world of magic, arrogance only leads to bitter consequences. We should always remain humble."
In fact, he had prepared far too much for this.
First, he arrived at the small house in Hogsmeade Village, which was his own private property, and he knew it was very clean.
It was cleaner than Principal Beauxbatons' residence; who knows how much magic was operating there that he couldn't even detect?
He cast the "World Island" spell on the small building, isolating it from all possible prying, occupation, and other interference, and summoned his companions to help guard the territory.
Wrongfully Killed Fairy, Little Golden Retriever, Boggart, Curled-Winged Demon, Sack Sheath, Hakimi Cat —
They are enough to protect oneself from all possible malice.
After Lady Mary finished casting her spell and nodded to him, Lockhart drew his wand and gently waved it, feeling a strange magical rhythm.
whistling.
It was a feeling, even though Snape and the others around him couldn't feel a breath of wind.
However, there was an unknown and imperceptible wind blowing around.
Wisps of silver mist rose up as if they were alive, spreading and wriggling.
Lockhart muttered an almost imperceptible ancient runic incantation that then turned into English, calling out, "Giddro Lockhart—Giddro Lockhart—Giddro Lockhart—"
As Tonks chanted his name, he looked at the young wizards beside him with a strange expression, then exchanged a glance with Lupin.
Clearly, none of them knew what Lockhart was doing.
Snape knew!
Snape felt goosebumps rise all over his body. In his memory, he had successfully stood out from the Dark Lord's followers (the Knights of Walpurgis) and joined the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord had cast that Dark Mark on his arm that seemed to be impossible to remove for the rest of his life. It was the same feeling Lockhart was casting right now!
They're not exactly the same, but they look incredibly alike!
As Lockhart chanted, rays of light, whose colors were indistinguishable by sight, surged from his body outwards, intertwining and giving rise to figures.
It contains Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Voldemort, Snape, Hermione, and Percy.
These illusory figures are either busy with something, talking to others, or looking down and reading something.
Harry gasped, swallowing hard along with an equally horrified Ron. They could both clearly hear what some of the people inside were saying.
Looking closely at these figures, one could clearly hear what they were saying, and it even seemed that with a little more effort, one could hear what was going on in their heads.
"The Dark Mark!" Snape finally couldn't help but exclaim. It looked just like it! It was so similar!
Back then, these Death Eaters used the Dark Mark to sense those who dared to call the Dark Lord by his name, and this was exactly how they felt!
No, going further, the Black Mark isn't that clear yet.
"The method Dumbledore taught me." Lockhart smiled slightly. "Of course, Tom, I mean, Voldemort also learned from Dumbledore. He figured out the Dark Mark, while I explore the realm of relationship magic, so it's somewhat different." (Chapter 278)
"Okay, we can't stay like this for too long."
Lockhart smiled as he looked at Grindelwald in the phantom image. At that moment, old Grindelwald had turned his head, his heterochromatic eyes gazing at him with a deep, unsettling look.
"No offense intended!"
He greeted Grindelwald with a smile, waving his wand at Voldemort among the figures who had strong ties to him.
Then, unnoticed by anyone present, an imperceptible ray of light traveled along Voldemort's phantom and extended to Harry Potter, who was present at the scene.
"Gotcha!"
Lockhart let out an excited shout and swung his wand forward with all his might.
In an instant, all the surrounding figures vanished, and the silver light transformed into a passage extending towards the unknown end.
In the passageway, figures of Voldemort appeared one after another: the present-day version, the noseless version, the middle-aged version, the young version, and the child version—
Unlike when he first used the Time Serpent to travel smoothly along Tom Riddle's timeline, now a large amount of twisted and surging black mist appeared on this vein, which condensed into a skull that was spitting out snakes.
Clearly, Voldemort used some method to conceal some part of his past and prevent others from prying into it.
This works.
In particular, to guard against Lockhart running around in time and causing trouble.
But ultimately he couldn't completely hide himself, as that would cause him to become disconnected from reality, and no one knew what would happen then.
"There are always some wonderfully unique time periods you can find —"
Lockhart murmured, surveying the many obscured sections of Tom's timeline, his gaze finally settling on a particular spot. He chuckled, "This is it!"
As he spoke, a huge silver winged horse rose from the ground, carrying him and the people around him, and together they traversed into this river of time.
A violent tremor shook them, and their figures vanished instantly, leaving only a strange, seven-colored vortex that swirled and turned like a nebula.
In the very center appeared a clock so huge it resembled a high wall.
Beneath the clock, Mrs. Mary held up her wand to help maintain the stability of the passage for this time-traveling adventure.
"How did I get here?"
Tonks looked around blankly. What lay before him was an extremely narrow alley, or rather, a gap between two crooked houses.
"Time travel...this is sometime in the past." Lupin shook his slightly dizzy head, looking at the witch in front of him, dressed in a gothic style with thick black eye circles and black lips, with a strange expression. "You didn't know Lockhart was going to take us on a time trip?"
Tonks shrugged. "I don't know. I just followed Mary and heard there were interesting things happening here, so I joined in."
Lupin was starting to lose his composure.
It's truly outrageous that someone would dare to get involved when they know absolutely nothing.
He found it hard to understand such behavior. His life had been filled with too many unexpected events and disasters, which had made him deliberate and think things through before taking any action.
"Hey, never mind that." Tonks was very accepting of the sudden time travel, even seeming somewhat excited. "Did you see the other people?"
Lupin shook his head. "I just tried using origami cranes to contact other people, but look—"
He gestured to the area in front of him, where a casually folded origami crane was flapping its wings and circling around. "It can't find anyone else."
(P.S.: Magic Thousand Paper Cranes: A magical ability to automatically locate and deliver letters. Because it cannot deliver long distances, it cannot replace the Owl Postman.)
"Wait!" Tonks, who was looking around, suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, grabbed Lupin's shoulder and squatted down with him, gesturing to the shop across the alley, where a figure walked out of the door.
"Was that the mysterious person?"
She was so excited that her whole body was trembling.
"He's so young! I dare say I'm the first person in my generation to see him like this!"
She was only three years older than Percy Weasley and still retained the mindset of a newly graduated witch. (She was Sirius Black's niece.)
"Don't speak, he'll find us!" As a member of the Order of the Phoenix who had experienced a difficult war, Lupin knew all too well how terrifying Voldemort was, even when he was young.
Lockhart's book, "Voldemort the Mysterious Man: A Pureblood Supremacist with a Muggle Father?", analyzed that Voldemort may have already reached the level of a master of the Dark Arts when he graduated.
Sure enough, the young Voldemort across the street glanced at them.
Lupin quickly grabbed Tonks, turned her head to face him, and silently spoke through his open mouth, "Don't look at me!"
Perhaps Voldemort thought they were a couple whispering in a corner.
Perhaps it's because this is Knockdown Alley, teeming with dark wizards, and everywhere you look, there are eyes that yearn for Caesar.
Voldemort, in any case, did not take any action.
He was just now facing a plump, swaying noblewoman as she walked out, a smile on his face—
Hmm————
Lupin once thought that Voldemort's smile at that moment was even more beautiful, more radiant, and more sunny than Lockhart's, who claimed to have the most perfect smile.
He completely captivated that wealthy woman.
Voldemort helped the noblewoman up the wooden steps of the carriage, and from afar came the noblewoman's sweet voice, "Oh, my little sweetheart, you are so adorable."
yue^
Tonks made a funny face at Lupin, making a disgusting expression that made him want to vomit.
It was so cute that Lupin almost burst out laughing.
Hey~
Tonks suddenly said, "You have a really charming smile."
Lupin paused for a moment, "I laughed?"
Tonks nodded. "You're smiling a little silly."
He then burst into laughter.
Her vibrant energy infected the somewhat lifeless Lupin, making him smile brightly as well.
On the other side of the street, Voldemort once again cautiously observed the two young couple in the alley across the street, and found them staring at each other and grinning foolishly. Voldemort finally determined that the two posed no threat.
He straightened the sleeves of his wizard's robe, making sure there wasn't a single wrinkle, before walking slowly and deliberately into the depths of Knockdown Alley.
"Should we follow them?"
Tonks asked quickly.
Lupin nodded solemnly. "This is the meaning of our time travel. We can't just do nothing, but you must follow orders. The Dark Lord is more dangerous than you think!"
"I promise!" Tonks raised her fair arm, painted with black nail polish, and gave a playful salute.
"What should we do!" Tonks saw Lupin begin to discreetly observe Voldemort's shadow cast by the dim streetlights, judging the distance.
"First, take off that collar around your neck."
Lupin glanced back at her and gestured to her neck, where a bell jingled in the center of the black collar.
Tonks stuck out his tongue and quickly rummaged through the thing.
She was clearly not clueless; knowing that she had traveled through time, she dared not leave her belongings lying around and carefully stuffed them into a tactical waist pack.
This is Auror's exclusive equipment. It's small and clings tightly to the belt, seemingly only big enough to hold a business card. But it's infused with an extremely advanced spatial expansion magic, even more stable than the Seamless Stretch Charm.
"That's fine."
Lupin looked up at the moon, muttered something, and drew his wand, pointing it at Tonks. "I'm going to cast a Transfiguration spell on you. You only need to resist slightly to turn back into human form, which will be helpful in emergencies. So I need you to adjust your mindset and calmly accept the transformation, okay?"
Tonks gave an OK sign. "Don't worry, I've received excellent Auror training."
Her master was the legendary Auror King Mad-Eye Moody, who had imprisoned half of Azkaban's prisoners. No matter how unruly her apprentice was, he still demanded rigorous training from her in every aspect.
Lupin nodded and gently tapped her with his wand.
In an instant, Tonks transformed into a jackal.
The jackal is small, with only three legs, making it difficult for it to move around. It is an animal not commonly seen in the Muggle world, and in legends, it is a companion of the wolf.
This is Lupin's most proficient option right now: turning people into animals. He does it naturally and easily. He guarantees that most wizards in the world will not feel the power of the Transfiguration magic he has cast when they see Tonks at this moment.
This is a tactic unique to the Wolf King.
He squinted, feeling the moonlight streaming down from the sky, and took a deep breath. His body rapidly expanded and twisted, quickly transforming into an extremely beautiful white wolf.
The white wolf swayed its body, its white fur shimmering mesmerizingly in the moonlight.
He gently lowered his body, gesturing for Tonks to climb onto his back. "Put your front paws on my head, and you'll feel right at home in this position. It's the most natural way for us to move together."
Tonks wriggled around, curiously looking at his furry body and little paws. He nodded excitedly and limped towards Lupin on his three legs.
In a flash, like a bolt of lightning, Lupin had already carried Tonks onto the roof of the third floor of the building next to them. His wolf nose twitched, and he silently chased after Voldemort in the direction he had gone.
At this moment, he can easily smell all the scents within a 10-kilometer radius, and if the weather is good (without headwinds or rain), he can even smell scents within a 25-kilometer radius.
Tracking down someone is incredibly easy.
in particular----
Did Voldemort wear perfume in his youth?
Hanging at a distance, sensing the scent lingering, the white wolf looked around and quickly chose a tall, dry tree next to a house on higher ground, where it jumped up.
They watched Voldemort's actions from a distance of 2 kilometers.
The wolf with werewolf blood was truly a darling of the moonlight; his eyesight was so good that even from such a distance, he could see Voldemort's every move clearly.
During the day, Lupin wouldn't be able to see that far.
"He seems to be hiding something!"
On her head, Tonks whispered that although her mobility had become extremely poor as a wolf's partner, her thinking had become more agile than that of a human, and her eyesight was more than twice as good as Lupin's now.
Yes, Lupin saw it too.
At that moment, Voldemort was casting a spell on a huge stone alligator turtle statue by the dried-up lake. The statue came to life, opened its huge mouth, and swallowed a bag of something that Voldemort had thrown out.
"Let's go see the statue after he leaves!"
Tonks was thrilled. "We might be about to discover his little secret!"
Lupin nodded, carefully watching Voldemort's every move, including the shape of his mouth opening and closing, reading his lips, and observing every movement of his wand.
"That huge rock deep in Knockturn Alley is still there!" Tonks whispered. "I came here once on a mission, and that alligator snapping turtle statue is now the base of a small house, inside which is a general store that sells love potions, secondhand cauldrons, and secondhand magic books."
"We're still too late!"
At some point, Lockhart led Snape and Sirius to the stone alligator snapping turtle deep in Knockturn Alley.
"I once secretly peeked into some of Voldemort's dirty secrets. It was difficult, after all, he was a master of Occlumency, and some memories that were more emotionally stimulating to him could not be seen. But I did see the matter of this little treasure being stolen."
Lockhart chuckled somewhat wickedly, "He was working hard to save money before graduation, and most of the money and treasures he earned from working after graduation were put into this stone turtle."
"This overly arrogant fellow had no trust in the Gringotts vault, which was guarded by the goblins, believing they would steal from it. He presumptuously chose this place to put all his treasures into the belly of this stone turtle, and then—"
He burst into laughter, a truly joyful laugh, "And then it got stolen!"
"We still don't know who stole it."
Beside him, Snape and Sirius were both barely able to contain themselves; this was undoubtedly Voldemort's dark history.
"Let's go." Lockhart waved his wand, restoring the stone alligator snapping turtle to its original statue form. "I just happened to come and take a look, but clearly this treasure is not meant for me."
Sirius Black, standing to the side, had a rather strange expression. "Some bored people in newspapers and magazines have compiled a list of the richest wizards of our time, and you're at the top of that list. I don't think you need to be so obsessed with wealth."
Lockhart sighed, "That's because you have no idea how many projects I've supported; the coffers are almost empty!"
Otherwise, why would people say that starting a business leads to financial ruin? The money in his vault is enough for him to live a life of luxury for several lifetimes.
Of course, many wealthy pure-blood families and powerful organizations are willing to provide some support for his financial situation.
But he was bound by favors and didn't want to be controlled by others.
"What a pity."
Lockhart glanced back at the stone tortoise, shook his head, and said that he would take it if it was on his way, but he wouldn't risk time travel to steal some valuables if it wasn't.
That doesn't fit the meaning of fairy tale adventure.