Hydrus reined in her shock and quickly accepted reality.
'The reason Mr. Voldemort valued me so highly wasn't just because of my astonishing talent; blood relations must also be a factor, though not a very significant one.'
After all, he was a man who didn't understand "love."
"Little snake, what is your name? Why are you here?"
The little green snake let out a hiss, but what Hydrus heard was:
"I have no name. I only know that I am a Hangleton Flying Arrow Snake. I was placed here by my master at birth to guard this old house."
The Hangleton Flying Arrow Snake was an extremely rare magical creature, seldom recorded in books because it had only ever been discovered in Great Hangleton.
Some speculated this snake was specially bred by the Gaunt family. Its rating was somewhere between 3X and 4X. The rating was unstable because individual differences in the species were vast, much like the results of the Gaunt family's inbreeding—the intelligent ones were extremely clever, and the stupid ones were extremely dim.
This magical creature looked no different from an ordinary snake, but it could spit venom. A single spray of its venom could travel fifty meters and penetrate most magical barriers.
If an attacker's skin was touched by its venom and not treated in time, they would die in less than half an hour.
Hydrus had read about the Flying Arrow Snake in her family's library and knew what it was capable of.
Secretly delighted, Hydrus extended her hand towards the candlestick, letting the snake slither onto her finger. It was cool and smooth. If she could overcome her fear of snakes, the sensation was actually quite pleasant.
"See that man walking around outside? He's my enemy. Are you confident you can kill him?"
The little snake shook its head. "I am not yet an adult. My venom may not be strong enough..."
Hydrus sighed. She had thought the little guy might give her a surprise, but it turned out to be false hope.
But the next moment, she was surprised to discover a mysterious, profound sensation coming from the finger that was touching the snake.
In an instant, she understood the principle of the Hangleton Flying Arrow Snake's magical constitution.
Hydrus laughed self-deprecatingly. 'So what if I understand the snake's magical principles? Can I mimic it and spit venom?'
The next moment, however, she felt something growing in her throat.
Itchy, incredibly itchy.
It was extremely uncomfortable, like she needed to cough. After clearing her throat, she spat out a glob of phlegm—forgive her, it wasn't that she lacked manners, but sometimes physiological reactions are truly hard to resist.
However, she was astonished to find that the "phlegm" she spat out was dark green.
When it landed on the floor, it immediately began to smoke, and in just a moment, it had corroded a small hole in the wooden plank.
"Little Mistress, how can you spit our Flying Arrow Snake venom?"
Hydrus was stunned.
'Do I possess a talent that allows me to mimic the unique constitutions of magical creatures?'
'The body I accidentally created has this kind of function?'
'Does this mean that in the future, I can have a dragon's breath? A giant's strength? A Demiguise's invisibility? A phoenix's regenerative ability? A flying magical creature's ability to fly? A Kneazle's ability to split? An Occamy's ability to change size? A Zouwu's ability to travel through space? A Thunderbird's ability to summon lightning...?'
'And a Mooncalf's manure-fertilizing ability... oh, I can cross that one off.'
...
After a brief moment of excitement, Hydrus suddenly realized something: house-elves were also magical creatures...
She gently held Momo in her arms. The unconscious little elf trembled instinctively as her wounds were touched.
Under normal circumstances, house-elves avoid all physical contact with their masters as a sign of respect.
Therefore, Hydrus had never had physical contact with Momo before.
The same profound sensation returned, and Hydrus immediately understood the way house-elves' magic worked.
Their method was different from wizards, who used magical circuits. It was more like they borrowed magic from the air for their own use.
Hydrus quickly mastered the house-elf's method of Apparition. With a thought, she moved from the window to the doorway of the master bedroom.
She let out a sigh of relief, a sense of security from having weathered the crisis.
With Apparition, she could leave this place at any time!
However, as she gained the house-elf's magical constitution, the Flying Arrow Snake's ability was lost.
At the same time, she mastered two other abilities engraved in the house-elf's soul: housekeeping magic with perfect proficiency and an outstanding talent for winemaking.
She tried hard to recall the snake's magical constitution and attempted to mimic it. Four or five seconds later, she could spit venom again.
As expected, the house-elf's magical constitution was lost upon the return of the snake's.
'So:'
'I can only use one magical constitution at a time.'
'In that case, this ability isn't really suitable for switching between in combat.'
'But it's better than nothing. At this stage, this talent of mine is a huge help!'
She could now switch to the house-elf constitution and escape.
But her "Survive Until After the Final Battle, Get Rich Overnight, and Climb to the Peak of Life" plan had been ruined by the Gray family. She couldn't swallow this insult!
She was alone and weak, and she wouldn't be able to reclaim her family fortune anytime soon.
Even if she could, it would require meticulous planning.
Otherwise, the story of a Squib defeating a wizarding family to reclaim her inheritance would be too unreasonable. If it attracted Dumbledore's attention, it wouldn't be fun!
But she could still make the Gray family pay a price first—for example, by arranging the "accidental" deaths of the two men downstairs.
'Consider it interest for the trouble you've caused me!'
Hydrus observed carefully through the window. Stevenson was still resting, but he was blocking the main entrance, staring at the exit with venomous hatred in his eyes.
Norson was still wandering around the house, as if looking for a way in.
"Little Flying Arrow Snake, go down and hide near that man," Hydrus pointed at Norson. "When you see my signal, spit venom at him!"
The little green snake nodded and obediently went down. In its simple mind, it only needed to obey its master's command. Whether it succeeded or not was not its concern.
'What, this little girl isn't the master? Don't be ridiculous! The scent of Slytherin's bloodline is so strong on her it's practically bursting out. Even the master's scent wasn't this strong!'
'This is undoubtedly the Little Mistress!'
...
Hydrus waited quietly.
Momo whimpered in pain in her unconscious state. Hydrus couldn't bear it and took an Invigorating Potion from her sachet.
This potion had some effect on minor injuries, but it might not work on Momo's extensive burns.
She fed the potion into Momo's mouth, and the little elf's condition clearly improved.
The potion did have an effect, which relieved Hydrus slightly.
Calculating the time, the little snake should be in position. Hydrus leaned out the window.
Sure enough, she saw a green figure slithering along after Norson. When it saw Hydrus lean out, the little thing even raised its head, as if to say:
'I'm in position, Little Mistress. Give the order!'
Hydrus smiled slightly and called out, "Norson Gray, you're working so hard guarding the house for me. I really feel bad!"
Norson Gray looked up and saw Hydrus leaning against the windowsill, waving at him.
Hydrus's smile was devastatingly beautiful. Although she was only an eleven-year-old girl, one could already imagine the nation-toppling beauty she would become.
However, this smile did not soothe Norson's heart. Instead, it made him furious. The little brat's words were a mockery. She was looking down on him!
"Hydrus! Get down here! You must be hungry, right? I can let you eat your fill before I kill you!"
"It's not bad to die on a full stomach, what do you say?"
Suddenly, an Avada Kedavra shot through the air. Hydrus pulled back slightly, dodging the attack.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Hydrus shook her head. "Mr. Butler, are you not even willing to call me 'Miss Lestrange' anymore? I was kindly planning to warn you to be careful, but you greet me with a Killing Curse."
A ghost of a smile played on Hydrus's face. "You're hurting my feelings!"
Norson looked confused but remained extremely vigilant. "Be careful? What do you mean?"
Hydrus pointed to the Hangleton Flying Arrow Snake's location below and smiled. "Because a highly venomous Flying Arrow Snake has been targeting you for a while now."
Norson quickly looked in the direction Hydrus was pointing, just in time to see a small, emerald-green snake open its mouth and spit a cloud of venom.
The venom flew quickly, but Norson's reaction was not slow.
"Protego!"
However, the venom corroded the shield charm and struck Norson in the chest.
His clothes were rapidly eaten away, causing him to pale in alarm.
"Evanesco!"
A Vanishing Spell made the venom-soaked clothes disappear, but it also left Norson bare-chested.
He was very curious as to why Hydrus had warned him, seeing as he was trying to take her life.
But when he looked up, he saw a glob of green venom flying from the little girl's mouth.
The venom shot out even faster than the little snake's. With the element of surprise on her side, Norson was hit head-on.
Hydrus felt a little smug.
'This move is called "feinting to the east while attacking in the west"!'
'If I hadn't had the little snake attack first, my own venom spit might not have hit Norson.'
Hydrus watched Norson tremble and fall, feeling not a trace of fear. Her delicate little face was as calm as still water.
The madness in the Gaunt bloodline seemed to give her a natural resistance to cruelty.
Hydrus climbed out the second-story window and dropped.
She performed a "superhero landing," then snapped her head up, whipping her hair back.
The set of movements was fluid and incredibly stylish. Unfortunately, she was dancing for an empty audience.
Stevenson, seeing that the situation had turned bad, had already fled!
At this moment, Stevenson was already running deep into the Gaunt manor's garden.
'There's something strange about that girl. She can spit venom! I'm severely injured, I'm probably not her match!'
"Don't run!"
Hydrus gave chase, but how could Stevenson dare to stop?
The dense vegetation gave Stevenson ample cover. He immediately began to imitate exactly how Hydrus had used the environment to hide earlier.
With a crack, Stevenson finally found his chance and escaped using Apparition.
Hydrus was annoyed. With Stevenson's escape, some information about her would be exposed!
'But that's not important!'
'The most important thing right now...'
'Hehehe...'
'What could be more important than my treasure?!'
Hydrus rubbed her hands together and ran towards the three holly trees.
She had to find the alchemical tracking device as quickly as possible and then fly far away with her treasure.
That way, she could live a comfortable life for a few years, and then just wait to reclaim the Lestrange family property after the final battle.
'Sigh, who understands the stress-free life of a rich woman!'
'Although some of the property will definitely be lost, it can't be helped. Just consider it paying for peace and quiet!'
'As for the Gray family?'
'Heh, the day my cheap parents and uncle escape from prison will be the day the Gray family is annihilated!'
Of course, Hydrus wasn't one to just swallow insults. If she got the chance, she wouldn't hesitate to make trouble for the Gray family.
"Ahhh—!!!!"
Hydrus's shrill scream echoed through the sky.
"Which bastard stole my treasure?"
"Who?"
"Who was it?"
"Was it Stevenson? You're dead, you're dead! I swear it!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]