allendalepharm Chapter 142 Lady Mary
Chapter 142 Lady Mary
Chapter 142 Lady Mary
It won't be easy for Lockhart and his team to find Coban Yaxley's trail.
The Ministry of Magic has mobilized all its resources to search for this guy, even employing wizards skilled in detecting clues, but they still haven't been able to capture this cunning fellow.
Lockhart and Snape are not good at this; their current paths are somewhat biased towards combat, and they don't have any particularly effective methods for finding people.
Harry and the other young wizards were equally helpless.
Perhaps when Harry Potter, the "savior," was dealing with Voldemort, he always received clues from villains who seemed like NPCs, but this was clearly not his adventure, and fate was not on his side.
But since Lockhart had decided to seek formal training, he wasn't just going to search aimlessly like he was trying his luck.
Tom Riddle's memories provided him with a dark magic for finding people.
The prerequisite is that a little bit of enemy blood is needed, using the unique magical properties of the curse to provide this hint.
This is why Lockhart extracted some blood and preserved it when he received the severed arm from the Cobbler.
We have three chances.
This spell can only be used three times.
Besides the fact that the blood from the classically trained practitioner was only enough for three uses, Lockhart also feared the dark magic itself. Since he couldn't master the magic, he didn't dare to use it too many times to avoid causing himself harm.
Tom Riddle's dark magic is called "Bloodline Tracing".
Strictly speaking, it is not designed for a specific person, but rather a kind of magic used to find relatives.
Lockhart's first attempt involved them traveling in a flying car to Knockturn Alley, crashing into a dark wizard's lair, and after a battle, confirming that Cobbane had indeed been there.
The unfortunate dark wizard expressed his grievances, saying that he had not provided any help to the Cobbler and hoped Lockhart would let him off the hook. He even invoked Mr. Borgin's name, saying that he was actually serving this important figure.
On their second attempt, Lockhart and his team tracked the suspect all the way to Gringotts and captured someone no one expected—Bill Weasley.
Yes, that's right, Ron's brother.
Bill, working as a curse-breaking agent at Gringotts, seemed somewhat bewildered, while Ron found it even more absurd. Snape, however, offered a more plausible answer with a cold laugh—"A marriage alliance between pure-blood families."
The pure-blood wizarding families in England are mostly the same, and through centuries of intermarriage, they are still connected by blood in modern times. Ron's father is from the Weasley family and his mother is from the Pewter family, both of which are the Twenty-Eight Holy Pure-Blood Families. Such intermarriage is even more common in modern times.
It's not hard to predict that Bill would show some Yaxley family blood.
But such a discovery almost certainly renders Lockhart's "Bloodline Tracing" spell ineffective.
"The Unreliable Gilderoy"—Snape gave Lockhart this nickname with malice in front of the students.
Ultimately, Lockhart had to seek off-court help and turned to Kingsley, whom he had previously suggested could provide assistance.
Kingsley compiled a list that included the Axley family’s properties around the world and the addresses of some safe houses, as well as a list of people he could not disclose to the Ministry of Magic.
Ms. Mary was one of them.
Lockhart wasn't really keen on approaching Ms. Mary.
Because this is one of the people who stole the memories of more than ten powerful wizards, and the true protagonist of the adventure in the book "Breaking Up with the Female Ghost".
This is a witch with a somewhat pitiful background.
Her maternal grandmother was a Haitian Muggle who fell in love with a member of the Yaxley family and was cursed by Mr. Yaxley's wife to never be loved by anyone. This vicious curse even continued to their descendants.
Her mother was also abandoned, and then she was.
A fan who also idolizes Lockhart, a mixed-race individual who rose from humble beginnings to achieve success.
The original owner was that scumbag. Although he had a bottom line and didn't deceive the other person's body, he did steal the other person's memories.
Lockhart felt a little embarrassed to face the witch.
But fate sometimes loves to play tricks on people. On their third attempt to use "Bloodline Tracing," they found this place. Luckily, they actually discovered Coban Yaxley's trail!
This powerful witch clearly had some mental flaws. When Crabbe cast a Soul Fire on the fireplace in the room, she was completely controlled and just stared blankly at the fireplace flames without moving.
However, when Hermione tried to use magic to finally defeat her opponent, a large amount of purple dust appeared on Lady Mary's body, blocking the attacks.
The others all gained a lot. Even though there were various conflicts between Harry's group and Draco's group, under Lockhart's training, they still cooperated well and successfully dealt with the wizards who came from the wizarding community.
"Perhaps your suggestion of a 'fairytale adventure' really works." Snape watched the two children's battle with a complex expression, a hint of surprise mixed with a touch of melancholy, as if recalling his own youth. "Their performance is certainly excellent."
Lockhart did not answer, but silently looked at Mrs. Mary in front of the fireplace.
He could feel Mrs. Mary's gaze upon him in the glow of the soul bonfire.
"Yo~"
Snape made an ambiguous sound, and when he heard Harry and the others shouting "He's right here," he simply left Lockhart there and rushed in after them.
"It's you, isn't it?" Mrs. Mary looked at Lockhart with a dazed expression. "I can feel the spiritual guidance I'm receiving. It's you, isn't it?!?"
Lockhart looked at the other person with a complicated expression, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
Ms. Mary sneered, "Sorry?"
"Hmm." Lockhart gently raised his wand. "Yes, I'm sorry."
"!!!" Mrs. Mary's sneer turned to terror as she stared intently at the wand. "No, no, you can't do this to me again!"
"I have to do this. Maybe I'll find a way to make it up to you when I'm able, but not now." Lockhart looked at her apologetically, but still waved his wand quickly.
"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"
Ms. Mary's gaze became vacant, and as the spirit fire beside her went out, she sat somewhat dazedly on the sofa in front of the fireplace and drifted off to sleep.
Snap, snap, snap~
The sound of footsteps faintly reached her ears, but she seemed to be in the deepest sleep, completely still.
Lockhart looked down at her, gently shaking his wand to confirm that the Oblivion Charm had been used properly, before letting out a long sigh.
A dozen or so powerful wizards—who knows what kind of changes this will bring to the future?
"Erase all her memories, turn her into an idiot!" The fireplace flames shone on him, dragging a dark werewolf shadow from the floor as it roared beside him. "She's helping Corban, this is a good opportunity to have the Ministry of Magic imprison her in Azkaban as an accomplice, so she'll never get out!"
"No, you can't do this!" A silver light flickered, and a horse appeared beside the witch, urging Lockhart, "You didn't do those wicked things in the past; your future is up to you!"
"That witch is a dark wizard, and she's no good!" the werewolf roared. "She's not some kind-hearted rule-abiding citizen. If she notices anything amiss again, you're dead!"
"Ha!" the horse chuckled. "We're afraid? Let her come all she wants, and we'll see who dies!"
Lockhart didn't speak, but gave the witch a deep, dark look.
"Professor, come quick, we've caught Corinth!" Just then, the curtain next to them was lifted, and Hermione excitedly shouted to Lockhart.
"Really? You did a great job." Lockhart looked up, his face full of a warm smile.
The flickering firelight from the fireplace swirled and tangled the werewolf and the horse, obscuring their true forms.
(End of this chapter)