The top of the tower returned to silence.
Dumbledore picked up the elder wand from the floor.
Draco hadn't "failed" yet; he had been interrupted during the task, and the task was still ongoing.
According to the Unbreakable Vow, Snape's task at this moment was still to "assist" Draco.
Only when Draco completely gave up or was defeated would the clause for Snape to "complete the task in his stead" be activated.
The original script was for Snape to "kill" Dumbledore under the witness of a group of Death Eaters.
But now, not a single audience member had arrived.
This play had lost its most important background scenery.
"Hermione," Lia gently tugged at the corner of Hermione's robes, "that Snape, does he want to eat you?"
"He doesn't have the ability." Hermione rubbed Lia's head, her voice softening immediately.
"Now then, Miss Granger." Dumbledore turned around and looked at Hermione with an extremely serious expression, "How do you plan to handle those 'trophies' you left behind?"
He was referring to the Death Eaters in the Room of Requirement who had been crippled and captured by Hermione's traps.
It wasn't just one or two people.
It was nearly ten living, vicious criminals.
Including Alecto Carrow.
And even more so, a madwoman among madmen—Bellatrix Lestrange.
Hermione's traps were so efficient that Bella, who was supposed to be cleared in the second wave, along with several of her confidants, didn't even dare step out of the vanishing cabinet after witnessing the first wave of invaders turn into blood mist instantly. They were directly sealed and captured alive by the second set of runes Hermione activated.
These people were hot potatoes.
Hand them over to the Ministry of Magic?
The current Ministry of Magic was Lord Voldemort's back garden.
Execute them on the spot?
Although Hermione was cold, she hadn't reached that point yet.
"I've already thought it through," Hermione replied calmly.
She took a small Two-way Mirror out of her beaded handbag.
This was a communication tool she had requested from the Order of the Phoenix.
"Expecting the Wizards at the Ministry of Magic to have brains that haven't been stepped on by a Troll." Hermione whispered to the mirror, "Some things need to be solved in our own way."
The mirror's surface lit up, reflecting Sirius Black's handsome yet slightly anxious face.
"Hermione? What's wrong? What happened?"
Hermione glanced at Dumbledore beside her, then spoke into the mirror, word by word:
"Sirius, prepare your biggest and strongest cage."
"The Order of the Phoenix has a delivery to sign for."
...The door to the Room of Requirement slowly opened before Hermione.
Inside was no longer that cold metal slaughterhouse, but had returned to the huge storage room filled with clutter.
But in a clearing at the very center of the room, the sight was hair-raising.
Nearly ten figures had been placed under the Petrificus Totalus and Sleeping Charm, lying scattered across the floor.
They were all wearing the black robes of Death Eaters, with masks on their faces, but some masks had shattered in the previous impact, revealing distorted and terrified faces.
The air was filled with the smell of ozone from residual Dark Arts and a faint scent of blood.
"Merlin's beard..."
With a gasp, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin walked in from behind Hermione.
They had rushed over urgently via the Order of the Phoenix's internal floo network through the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room.
When they saw the scene before them, even the two who were used to great storms were stunned.
Sirius walked in a circle around the captives on the floor, kicking an unconscious Death Eater with his toe to confirm they were still alive.
"This... you did all this? Hermione?" His voice was full of disbelief.
He knew Hermione was smart, but he never thought she could take down a squad of Death Eaters alone and without a sound.
This could no longer be described as "excellent."
This was "terrifying."
Lupin was more cautious; he drew his wand and checked the captives one by one. When his gaze fell on a woman's face, his expression changed.
"Bellatrix Lestrange." Lupin's voice dropped, "She's here too."
Bella, lying on the ground, hadn't been put under a Sleeping Charm; she was just tightly bound.
Her signature messy long black hair was scattered on the ground, and a pair of crazed eyes stared fixedly at the ceiling, her mouth making unintelligible hissing sounds.
She wasn't crazy.
She was just scared out of her wits.
She had personally witnessed her most elite subordinates being torn to pieces, crushed into meat paste, and turned to ash by an invisible force the moment they stepped out of the vanishing cabinet.
That kind of death, too fast even for a scream, and that unreasonable crushing force from Ancient Magic, had completely destroyed her crazed sense of superiority.
"We need information." Hermione spoke, her voice as calm as if she were discussing a Potion problem, "Especially her, Professor Lupin. She is Lord Voldemort's most loyal servant; she must know the whereabouts of the other Horcruxes."
"I'm afraid Veritaserum won't work on her." Lupin frowned, "Her will has been tempered by the Dark Arts; it's enough to resist most mental Potions. Forcing Legilimency might result in us getting nothing because of her madness, or even being backlashed."
"I agree," Sirius said, "The only use for a lunatic like this is to send her straight to see Merlin."
"No," Hermione shook her head, "We have a more efficient way of interrogation."
She turned her head and looked at Lia, who had been quietly following her.
"Lia."
Lia looked up, her sky-blue eyes clear to the bottom.
"Go smell her." Hermione said softly, "Tell me what scent is hidden in her soul."
Sirius and Lupin's expressions changed at the same time.
"Hermione! No!" Sirius immediately took a step forward, blocking Lia, "She's too dangerous! Even an unconscious Bella has a soul full of poison! You can't let Lia take the risk!"
"She's just a child!" Lupin was also anxious.
Lia poked her head out from behind Hermione, looking at Sirius blocking her, and tilted her head in confusion.
Well, Lia's appearance was too deceptive.
Even though Lia had previously taken down one Death Eater per spell in front of them, they still subconsciously treated her as a little girl who needed protection.
"She won't hurt Lia." Hermione's voice was somewhat helpless.
She went around Sirius, holding Lia's hand, and walked step by step toward Bellatrix lying on the ground.
Bella's eyes caught the two approaching; her pupils shrank suddenly, and a threatening low growl came from her throat.
"A Gryffindor mudblood... and a lowly half-blood pet..." she laughed hoarsely, "The Dark Lord will skin you and turn you into his rug!"
Lia stopped.
She looked at Bella, her small brow furrowing.
"Hermione," she whispered, "she's so noisy."
Hermione didn't speak, just gently squeezed Lia's hand and gave her an encouraging look.
Lia took a deep breath and then slowly closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, deep within those sky-blue pupils, a halo began to rotate slowly.
In Lia's vision, the whole world lost its color, turning into a soul landscape composed of black, white, and gray lines.
The Bellatrix before her was no longer a woman.
She had become an extremely massive, chaotic collection of souls.
That cluster of souls was like a pot of boiling tar, constantly bubbling with black bubbles, each bubble bursting with a piercing scream.
Countless distorted, pained faces drifted within it—the echoes of the victims she had tortured and killed.
Deep within the tar, there was a thick "black line" connecting to a distant, even more massive and evil existence—that was her fanatical faith in Lord Voldemort.
This cluster of souls gave Lia the feeling of being... noisy, dirty, and unpalatable.
Like a spoiled can of fish mixed with the smell of a sewer.
Lia suppressed her nausea and began to carefully "sniff" the scents within this cluster of souls.
She smelled madness, she smelled cruelty, she smelled the pleasure of slaughter.
Then, she smelled a different scent.
In a corner wrapped in layers of black memories, a shiny object was hidden.
It was a golden goblet.
The goblet was very beautiful, with a small badger carved on it.
The goblet was placed in a massive underground stone chamber filled with gold coins and jewelry.
The stone chamber was very cold and dark, and a White Dragon was coiled at the entrance.
"There's a scent in there just like him," Lia said to Hermione in her heart, "that cavity-flavored Horcrux."
Hermione understood immediately.
Hufflepuff's goblet!
Right in the Lestrange vault!
Found it!
[Hehehehe, at least half the time in a week is spent sleeping in the same bed!]
[My original bed is almost becoming a place to pile clothes!]
[When the clothes are piled up, I can righteously complain, "My bed is full of your clothes! If I don't sleep in your bed, where else would I sleep?!"
[Hehehehehe~]
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