It was not until March arrived that the four Father Troubleshooters finally freed up their hands to continue researching their Artificial Tailed Beast Plan.
Once George and Fred spent a month developing a method to control magical creatures modified with dark magic, the Troubleshooters set to work preparing for their first complete artificial tailed beast modification.
On this particular night, the wind was high and the moon was dark—the perfect time for arson and murder.
After curfew, only a few scattered windows in Hogwarts Castle remained lit.
Four stealthy black figures crept out of Hogwarts Castle, making a straight line for the edge of the Black Lake.
Looking at the lake surface before them, which reflected almost no light and resembled a black hole, the four Father Troubleshooters stepped directly onto it without hesitation. Under the effect of their magic, all four stood firmly on the water's surface without sinking.
Crouching down, Kyle pressed his hand against the lake's surface, his dispersing magic causing rippling circles on the water.
Using his magic, Kyle sensed the activity underwater. The terrain swept by his magic was transmitted in complete detail into his mind, while the underwater creatures appeared as shadows of varying sizes.
In Kyle's perception, about fifty meters underwater a short distance ahead of him, there was a massive shadow that seemed to be fast asleep.
In the area of water where they were currently located, this shadow was the largest of them all.
If he wasn't mistaken, this shadow was their target for this trip.
Kyle drew his wand and gave it a casual flick. A thread emitting a faint fluorescence shot out from his wand tip, floating on the water's surface to encircle the area where the shadow was located.
"Let's go." Standing up, Kyle led the other three toward that area.
The four didn't exchange a word along the way, but that didn't stop them from tacitly moving into a square formation, each standing at one of the four corners of the light circle.
"Ninja Art!" Kyle raised his wand high into the air, and the other three Father Troubleshooters followed suit.
Just like performing Finite Incantatem, the four slammed their wands into the water beneath their feet: "Four Red Yang Formation!"
Four red beams of light shot down from their wand tips straight into the lake bed, then expanded outward to both sides, forming a standard cube-shaped red barrier of light that firmly locked the creature inside.
This spell was the upgraded version of the Four Violet Flames Formation—the Four Red Yang Formation.
Kyle had developed it long ago, but restricted by their magic reserves, they hadn't been able to cast it effectively.
After all, the Four Red Yang Formation required at least four Hogwarts Head-of-House-level wizards to perform.
After Kyle became an Obscurial, his immense magic reserves alone could bear most of the magic needed to cast the Four Red Yang Formation.
Following his bloodline modification, Cedric's magic reserves were similarly vast, making it far easier for the Father Troubleshooters to execute the barrier.
Unlike the Four Violet Flames Formation, which only blocked Disapparition, all forms of spatial teleportation were prohibited within the range covered by the Four Red Yang Formation.
In addition, the Four Red Yang Formation possessed extraordinarily powerful spell defense.
Even if the Hydra that previously attacked Hogwarts fired a dozen Tailed Beast Balls at the barrier, or if Muggles dropped a few nuclear warheads on their heads, as long as it wasn't on the scale of the Tsar Bomba, the barrier would remain entirely unscathed.
Kyle reached into his pocket, pulled out an object resembling a lighter, and pressed the button on top.
Instantly, it was as if a black hole had opened in Kyle's hand, pulling, warping, and absorbing all light from the surrounding environment into the lighter.
This lighter—or more accurately, the Deluminator—was a replica Kyle had made based on the one owned by his father Albus.
The Deluminator's ability was to extinguish all light in the surrounding environment, creating a dark world that felt as if a sheet of pitch-black silk had descended—in short, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique invented by Tobirama Senju.
After using the Deluminator to conceal the commotion they were making, the four Father Troubleshooters could finally lay their hands on the giant squid trapped in the light cage without restraint.
That's right, this giant squid was their target for tonight.
Supposedly, this giant squid had lived in the Black Lake ever since Hogwarts was founded. As a magical creature that had lived for over a thousand years, its strength was undeniably formidable.
Although due to its bloodline it couldn't match the Hydra forcibly force-grown by Tom Riddle, an ordinary dragon would still be thoroughly flattened before it.
This was precisely why the Troubleshooters set their sights on it.
The more powerful the magical creature, the better the results when modifying it into a tailed beast.
Yet, despite the giant squid's immense strength, under the bombardment of Kyle's unique, majestic Obscurial magic, it couldn't withstand many Stunning Spells before Kyle knocked it unconscious, allowing the Troubleshooters to package it up and take it away.
Kyle didn't bring the giant squid into his small suitcase; although the alchemy laboratory in Mount Akina Villa was the best place to modify the giant squid, that place had now been converted into a cultivation chamber for White Zetsu. The sight of tens of thousands of White Zetsu stacked together was quite a shock for ordinary people.
It was best not to reveal certain unspeakable secrets to his companions.
Fortunately, after striking it rich, the Weasley twins hadn't been stingy with their money, purchasing vast amounts of magical materials to expand the suitcase they previously used to build mechas to countless times its original size.
Although the space couldn't rival Kyle's, accommodating a giant squid was no problem at all.
The group walked down the stairs, stepping through the door directly into George and Fred's alchemy laboratory.
This laboratory heavily reflected their personal style.
The steam-alchemy-style lab was clearly divided into two distinct areas. In the section to the left of the entrance, countless semi-finished inflatable—ahem, semi-finished alchemy puppets—were scattered around.
On the alchemy lathes and fully automated assembly tables, puppet parts of all sizes were everywhere.
One glance at this half of the area was enough to tell it belonged to George.
Several mechanical arms were mounted against the wall, looking quite similar to a certain Stark's "Dummy."
Next to them was a row of display cases containing several of George's proudest alchemy suits.
Compared to the left area, which resembled a machinery manufacturing plant, the area on the right looked like a magical version of a chemistry lab.
The test benches were covered in bottles and jars filled with strange liquids. Within Kyle's magic perception field, every single one of these bottles emitted a powerful magical aura.
One look at these things was enough to know they were explosives.
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