Lia completed her task and quickly retracted the Eye of Truth; the sickening sensation left her small face pale.
She looked at Bellatrix, who was still screaming on the ground, and a surge of disgust rooted in animalistic instinct rose within her.
This thing is too noisy.
She dirtied my eyes and put me in a terrible mood.
I need a little compensation.
Lia reached out her right hand.
A ghostly green light glowed at her fingertips, and her five slender fingers extended into indestructible claws.
Sirius and Lupin were startled, thinking Lia was about to deliver a killing blow.
"Lia, don't!"
But Lia's actions caught everyone by surprise.
Her hand didn't go for Bellatrix's neck; instead, it landed gently on the hand Bellatrix used to hold her wand.
That twisted wand was the signature of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Lia's claws covered it.
There was no sound.
There was no light.
Under the horrified gazes of Sirius and Lupin, the wand in Bellatrix Lestrange's hand—the Dark Arts medium that had terrified countless Wizards—simply vanished.
It was as if an invisible eraser had wiped it out of the physical world.
Even the decades-long connection between Bellatrix Lestrange and this wand was swallowed up entirely.
On the ground, Bellatrix Lestrange's cursing came to an abrupt halt.
Her eyes flew wide, filled for the first time with genuine, ultimate terror.
She could no longer feel her wand.
It felt as if a part of her body had been gouged out alive, leaving a massive tear in her soul.
Her mouth hung open, but she couldn't make a sound, looking like a fish thrown onto the shore.
She had gone mad.
This time, she was truly, completely mad.
Having finished, Lia acted as if she had done something trivial.
She walked over to Hermione and opened her hand.
The twisted wand lay perfectly intact in her palm.
She handed it to Hermione like a cat presenting a trophy.
"Hermione, compensation," she said, looking up with a serious expression. "For mental distress. Though this thing is too ugly; it doesn't suit your style."
Hermione looked at Lia, then at Bellatrix Lestrange, who had become a walking corpse on the floor.
She took the wand.
It felt cold to the touch, and the evil aura emanating from the wood would have made any normal person uncomfortable, but Hermione simply studied it calmly.
"Good job, Lia."
She gave Lia's silver hair an appreciative rub and casually tossed the wand into her beaded bag as if throwing away a piece of trash.
Sirius and Lupin stood rooted to the spot, completely speechless.
They looked at the group of demoralized Death Eaters, at the completely brain-dead Bellatrix Lestrange, and then at Hermione, who was nonchalantly handling the'spoils of war,' and Lia, who was rubbing against Hermione's leg as if seeking praise.
They suddenly felt that the course of this war had, at some point they weren't aware of, veered in an incredibly bizarre direction.
Hermione paid no more attention to what was behind them.
She took Lia's hand and walked toward the exit of the Room of Requirement.
"Let's go, time to go home."
Her voice was soft, carrying a hint of a smile.
"I can feel that you want your compensation."
"Let's use that toy you like today~"
As she spoke, Hermione squeezed Lia's hand and added, "This time, we'll use four of them together."
Oh no!
Lia felt a great sense of impending doom!
The alarm from her Danger Intuition was more intense than ever before!
Her steps faltered instantly as they walked away, and even her undergarments felt slightly unusual.
Lia stole a glance at Hermione.
Hermione had a lazy smile on her face, and that 'in control of everything' posture made Lia's cat ears twitch uneasily.
On the other side, Sirius and Lupin finally snapped out of their shock.
They looked at the empty room, where the thick scent of blood and the stench of Dark Arts residue seemed to linger in the air.
"We need to clean this up," Lupin finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Then, we'll deliver these 'gifts' to the Order of the Phoenix's secret base. The state of the war has changed."
Sirius looked at the demoralized Death Eaters, his gaze turning cold.
"Yeah, it's changed. It's become much more interesting."
Meanwhile, Hermione had already brought Lia back to 12 Grimmauld Place.
By the time Lia regained her senses, the moon was already high in the sky outside.
She was sunk into the soft, large bed at 12 Grimmauld Place, her body completely drained of strength like a cat pancake melted by the sun.
That crisis regarding 'compensation' had finally ended in a reconciliation declared by Hermione's unilateral victory, following Lia's intermittent pleas for mercy and near-delirious tremors.
Those items Hermione had secretly modified with Alchemy and Dark Arts were practically the natural nemesis of Lia's powerful body, capable of precisely dismantling her strength and leaving behind only helpless shivers.
"Awake?"
Hermione's voice came from the bedside; she held a cup of warm water and used a spoon to bring it to Lia's lips.
Lia obediently opened her mouth and drank, feeling her parched throat receive a bit of relief.
Hermione set down the cup and took Bellatrix Lestrange's twisted wand out of her beaded bag, intending to conduct deeper research.
However, as the wand appeared, Lia's nose twitched slightly; she caught an unusual scent.
"Wait, Hermione!" Lia propped up her weak body and stopped Hermione's movements.
She leaned her head over, her nose twitching as she sniffed carefully.
During the first interrogation, she had been searching for a needle in a haystack within Bellatrix's complex soul to lock onto the 'goblet Horcrux' target.
But now, this wand—deeply bound to Bellatrix's soul—was like a signal booster, allowing her to track that marked clue more clearly.
Hermione didn't interfere, her eyes quietly watching Lia's movements.
If Lia showed any signs of distress, she would pull her away immediately.
This continued for over half an hour before Lia's body gave a little shiver and she came back to herself.
Looking at Hermione, she scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Um..."
"I think I saw where that Horcrux is."
Hermione gave a helpless smile and rubbed Lia's head.
Amidst Lia's cry of surprise, she scooped her up in a bridal carry.
"Leave these matters to me."
With that, she tossed Lia onto the bed and pulled the covers over her, tucking her in.
"You should get some proper rest first."
Before leaving, she gave Lia a meaningful look.
"Drink plenty of water to replenish yourself; next time, I hope you can call me 'Master' a few more times~"
"Hermione!"
Lia, flushed with shame and anger, grabbed a pillow and threw it, but it only hit the already closed door with a soft thud.
Harry and Ron were already waiting in the living room; the letter delivered by Hedwig said Hermione had something to discuss with them.
"We have the location of the goblet," Hermione said directly as she reached them and sat on the sofa. "It's in the Lestrange family vault. But there's a problem."
She placed the wand on the table, repeating the information Lia had told her after seeing it.
"Bellatrix Lestrange is mad—truly mad. Lia tore the soul connection between her and the wand; it's impossible for us to get any information about the vault's defenses from her mouth."
"Then we'll just fight our way in!" Harry said immediately, his eyes burning with the flames of revenge.
"No," Hermione interrupted him calmly. "A frontal assault is a plan only a fool would choose."
"There are always ways to break conventional magical defenses. But the core of Gringotts is the Goblins; those defense systems were built by them. Not to mention, the defenses there aren't just magical."
Her gaze swept over everyone.
"As long as no one can spot any flaws, it will be fine."
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