The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

Chapter 55B

It seemed as if an invisible rope pulled the boat towards the green light in the middle of the lake. The boat was moving automatically, and the solid wood bow cut through the dark water, cutting deep ripples on the glass-smooth lake surface, like grooves on a black mirror.

The boat was getting farther and farther away from the coast, and the rock wall and the waiting figures behind were hidden in the darkness. Harry and Sirius squeezed into the boat, feeling an unknown depression in their hearts, and the cold seemed to penetrate into their bodies along the boat.

The light of the staff was reflected on the dark water surface, and the pale marble-like corpse was hidden under the water, looming and hazy, and the waterweed-like hair and robes floated under the water like smoke.

"Sirius, did you see the body that just jumped out of the water?" Harry looked down at the depths of the lake, his eyes chasing the flashing corpse, and a feeling of vomiting surged in his throat.

Sirius looked calm, and his words and actions were like a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts: "Don't panic, Harry, we have learned this lesson. The Inferi are like many creatures living in the cold and darkness. They are afraid of light and warmth. Fire spells are very effective for them."

"..."

A few minutes later, the boat gently hit the reef. Harry and Sirius carefully got off the boat, trying to avoid touching the cold lake water. When they turned around, they met the direct gazes of several people and house elves.

Fortunately, the vixen can lay 500 eggs at a time and bury them underground. There are basically no natural enemies. It usually takes two to three weeks to hatch, so no animal protection association will condemn them for abusing the vixen.

"..."

Kreacher lay on the stone basin, crying so hard that he couldn't breathe, shaking all over, and his nose was full of green mucus.

The others remembered the days of the big cleanup and nodded, quite in agreement.

The island in the middle of the lake was narrow, about the same size as the principal's office. It was a large flat black slab of stone, empty except for a stone basin in the middle, which was filled with flickering emerald green phosphorescence.

Fred reached out and took out a wooden cage from the storage scales, whispering, "In order to develop quick-acting skipping candy, we have raised a lot of foxes. Some are used to extract venom, and some are used for experiments. How about letting these little guys drink it?"

It was a stone basin similar to a meditation basin, with a thick base firmly fixed in the middle of the island. It was filled with a basin of emerald green liquid, emitting sparkling phosphorescence. The faces of eight people and a house elf were reflected on the smooth surface of the green liquid.

Unfolding the parchment, he read softly in the dim light of the cave:

"To the Dark Lord: I will be dead before you read this. But I want you to know that I discovered your secret. I stole the real Horcrux and plan to destroy it as soon as possible. I risked my life in the hope that you would be killed when you meet your opponent..."

"I'm not sure..."

"The venom of the iron-headed snake makes people dizzy and unable to concentrate. It will cause fever, nausea, thirst, and blurred consciousness until coma... and bat bile... nettle extract makes people feel hot and uncomfortable, and their internal organs seem to be burning, so they will throw themselves into the lake... the venom of the curled-winged demon... the poisonous horned beast... the moon-crazed beast..."

"Master Regulus!"

He bent down slightly, put his nose close to the stone basin, and held his palm above the green liquid for a distance. He gently fanned in his direction, sniffed the oncoming smell, and calmed down to carefully identify it.

"【Quick Bind】"

Want to transform into an Animagus and dig a tunnel to escape from here...

"RAB...Regulus Arcturus...Black..."

"Can you tell what potion it is?" Hermione looked at Loren beside her and asked in a low voice.

Ginny subconsciously took a step back, holding Harry's arm tightly with one hand. Sirius' eyelids twitched a few times, trying to restrain the urge to retreat.

Just as everyone was immersed in grief, a tooth-grinding crunching sound came from the lake behind them. Looking back, the four collapsed foxes crawled to the edge of the lake at some point, and several corpses had already surfaced. The pale and swollen hands clenched the unconscious foxes and sent the four weak ones into the dark mouth.

The lake surface was no longer as smooth as a mirror, but was violently churning. A large number of dead bodies emerged from the dark water. Looking around, white heads and hands emerged from the dark water everywhere. There were men and women, old and young, in different clothes and different body shapes. The bodies opened their sunken eyes without vision, as if a school of fish that had been hungry for a long time suddenly discovered something and floated towards the rock in unison.

"But... but!" Harry stumbled and couldn't speak clearly.

Loren looked calm and said lightly: "Kreacher brought us here."

As a common pest in wizards' homes, the fox charmer has shiny wings like a beetle and two rows of sharp fangs. The whole body is covered with thick black hair, and it has two arms and two legs. It is vaguely similar to fairies and humans. The squeaking appearance makes people's scalps numb.

"Don't be smart, you are already very old, you may not be able to withstand it this time..." Sirius said lightly with a cold expression, and at the same time he took out an exquisite goblet with the Black family emblem from his arms, and was about to reach into the stone basin to scoop the potion.

Sirius couldn't wait to step forward and turn the locket over, and gently opened the locket with trembling fingers. There was no magic trap, no poison, just a piece of folded parchment.

Loren stretched out his hand to touch the liquid, but an invisible resistance prevented him from touching the liquid. No matter how hard he pressed down, his fingers encountered an extremely hard wall of transparent air, and light and dexterous magic flowed along his fingers. Spreading out, it was also blocked by invisible forces.

"The technique is rough, mainly a combination of multiple snake venoms... Cobra venom can make people feel muscle weakness, staggering gait, and unclear speech and pronunciation... Bungara venom can make people's pupils dilated, blurred vision, facial muscles relax, Difficulty opening the mouth and swallowing, and then this muscle relaxation develops throughout the body, causing respiratory muscle paralysis, making it difficult to breathe, weak hands and feet, and the whole body is paralyzed..."

"No, Kreacher once drank this potion, and he survived intact, didn't he?" Sirius broke away from him and dipped the goblet into the emerald green potion. This time, he did not suffer any damage. Block, "It will probably paralyze me, make me feel extreme pain, lose my mind, and be unable to concentrate..."

Sirius's lips trembled slightly, and that familiar yet unfamiliar face seemed to appear in front of his eyes. He had the same black hair and dark skin as his own. He always had a stinking face and a proud expression in front of outsiders, but he was thin and small. It's never a deterrent.

"Crunch..."

A small golden locket, simple in shape and not refined enough. It does not have Slytherin's unique snake-shaped symbol, nor does it have mysterious and complicated magic words. It cannot bewitch people's hearts. The brass shell is not indestructible, and there is no trace of magic on it. , anyone can see that this is just an ordinary locket, belonging to Regulus.

Ginny glanced at his surprised expression, remained silent for a moment, and explained in a low voice: "This is the same as Hogwarts, except that wizards' apparation is prohibited, but the magic of elves is different from the magic of wizards."

Harry's eyes turned red: "Sirius!"

Kreacher's huge eyes filled with tears of grief, and he said in a hoarse voice: "The cursed potion. If you want to get the things hidden inside, you can only drink up the cursed potion..."

"This is it, this is it..." Kreacher stumbled forward and fell on the edge of the stone basin, and picked up the locket from the bottom, feeling extremely sad.

Kreacher's muffled voice came from the side, and the house elf's voice was full of determination and sorrow: "Only by drinking it can the things under the stone basin be revealed. Let-"

"If you can stay rational, you will desperately hope that someone can end your life, and in the process, you will be extremely afraid of this pot of potion. The instinct of survival will overcome your reason, and you will forget the purpose of coming here. You You will resist continuing to drink the medicine, so someone needs to pour the medicine into your closed mouth, do you understand? "

"..."

"[Retreat the enemy three feet]"

The group's eyes all turned to the person standing on the far right.

"Oh, how cruel!"

Sirius fell silent.

"[Split into pieces]"

Ron stared at the struggling Hu Meizi and shuddered: "This thing is much better than mom's insecticide."

He silently turned to look at the innocent-looking house elf: "Kreacher, tell me about the situation here. What traps has Voldemort set here?"

"If the potion needs to be drunk and there is no limit on who drinks it, we have other ideas..."

Who would have thought that Voldemort, who has always been cruel in his methods, would go to such great lengths to lay out this cave to hide the Horcruxes, but there would be such a big omission. House elves could come and go freely in such a dangerous place. No wonder Kreacher could Escaped successfully.

Just say that the potion is not fatal, and there is no need to describe the symptoms so realistically.

"!!"

Looking at the pale and thin face illuminated by the cold green light, Loren's eyes slightly lowered, and he had some new understanding of Professor Black, who was not very smart.

The group walked into the stone basin, formed a circle, and looked at it with narrowed eyes.

"[Tongtong Petrochemical]"

Harry's eyes suddenly widened, "How did you get here?!"

The small and ferocious face was twitching, its eyes were closed together, and it seemed to be sleeping, suffering from a terrible nightmare. Its muscles began to relax, and it no longer had the strength to close its mouth, and could only be forced to pour more poison.

Sirius gradually came to his senses and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Sirius reprimanded with joy on his face, and then he couldn't wait to take out a vixen from the wooden cage, pinch open its squeaking mouth, and pour poison into its mouth.

"squeak……"

Sirius's Adam's apple swayed up and down, and he tried hard to hold the goblet with his trembling hands, slowly calming his panicked breathing, and said calmly, "As long as you don't die, listen Harry, if I can't drink anymore , just pour it into my mouth!”

When the goblet scooped out the twelfth cup of poison, a total of 4 foxes were lying on the ground wailing and groaning. They finally saw the object lying in the stone basin——

Sirius did not say a word, but stepped forward to scoop out a cup of potion that was glowing green. When he gritted his teeth and was about to pour it into his mouth, George stretched out his hand to stop him.

Hu Meizi gasped and moaned, and the shrill voice crossed the silent black lake and echoed inside the empty cave, shocking people's hearts. It was probably extremely thirsty, and swallowed the liquid near its mouth in large gulps, but as soon as it finished drinking, it screamed, as if every organ in its body was burning.

"Professor Black, what are we going to do next?" Fred glanced at Sirius quietly. Out of some curiosity, he also wanted to see Professor Black being stupid.

"Don't be impulsive! Sirius, what if... what if it poisons you to death?" Harry grabbed his wrist, worry written on his face.

The bright red blood mixed with white liquid splashed on the mouth of the Inferi, and was immediately licked clean by the bloodless tongue the next moment.

Loren turned his head and stared at Sirius, whose arms were trembling slightly. A faint voice echoed over the cave: "Your judgment is correct. It will not kill you, but you will feel pain that you have never experienced in your life. This pain even goes beyond death...

Everyone turned to look at the center of the island in the middle of the lake, where the green light flickered.

The memory of a few minutes ago kept replaying in his mind. He stupidly found the boat, showed off his sense of smell, and made a carefree plan to cross the lake. Every move showed off his talents as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"You can't touch it with your hands, you can't touch it with magic, and you can't use spells to change the potion."

"[Many obstacles]"

The second son of the Black family who followed the Dark Lord after graduation, after noticing the wrong behavior of the Death Eaters, he stood against Voldemort without hesitation. He was born in the eternally pure Black family and was born in Slytherin College. , but always with compassion for the weak and the courage to die resolutely...

"..."

A series of volleys of curses were fired, and a wave of Inferi plopped back into the water. Several Inferi staggered and fell, and one or two of them were tied up with ropes. However, those who climbed up the rocks behind them just stepped over them, or stepped on their fallen bodies and walked over again. More Inferi have climbed onto the rocks, their withered hands grasping the slippery rocks, staring at them with hollow, foggy eyes, their water-soaked rags trailing behind them, and their sunken faces. There was a look of disdain on his face.

Ginny couldn't hold it any longer and blasted the front Inferi into several pieces with a spell, instantly creating an obvious gap in the group of Inferi.

The limbs were separated from the body, and the clothes were in pieces, but not a drop of blood came out. They were unaware and continued to press forward step by step, stretching out pairs of dry hands.