Chapter 26: Winged Demon
Harry and Draco were both very nervous at this moment.
The two had followed Professor Lockhart's instructions to mount their flying broomsticks and hover in mid-air, tightly gripping their wands, ready to fight at any moment.
They didn't know many spells, and their best was the Disarming Charm that the professor had been teaching them during this time.
They had mastered it quite well.
But it didn't give them much sense of security.
This castle looked too terrifying. Sticky blood was everywhere: in the cracks between the stones, in the gaps of the picture frames on the walls, and on the stone steps.
A series of chilling songs came from an unknown corner, mingling with the rustling sounds of various poisonous snakes and insects and the eerie bird calls, making one feel anxious and restless.
Of course, the adults' nervousness was also deeply affecting them.
Even powerful figures like Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, as well as the man who looked like a big shot, young Urquart, and his two subordinates, all looked like they were facing a formidable enemy.
Only Professor Lockhart was different.
He was sticking his rear in the air, lie on the ground, and sticking out his tongue to lick the blood on the floor.
After taking a lick, he seemed unsatisfied, smacked his lips, then moved closer to a place with more blood, brushed aside a few scorpions and spiders on top, and vigorously sucked at it.
"(⊙﹏⊙)!!!" Harry.
"w(ﾟДﾟ)w!!!" Draco.
Finally, Professor Lockhart stood up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and smiled slightly. "It seems I was right. It's a 'Vengeful Fairy'."
"The blood produced by 'Cellar Rot' has a putrid smell, while the 'Vengeful Fairy' affects the earth, and the red substance produced by the earth is actually a beneficial bactericidal spring water for life."
Young Urquart was somewhat stunned, pointing tremblingly at the red bloodstains everywhere in the castle. "These are spring water?"
"That's right." Lockhart nodded. "If you plan to let this 'Vengeful Fairy' occupy this castle, perhaps you can arrange for people to collect this spring water. The taste of this drink is quite good, and it can revitalize our body's skin. It should have considerable economic value."
"Oh~"
Young Urquart looked somewhat resistant. "Thank you for the suggestion, but no need. The Urquart family cares more about the castle where we have lived for generations than some money."
Lockhart smiled, not saying much more, and gestured towards the translucent gray wolf trotting through the blood. "Look, it's found the Vengeful Fairy."
He led the group behind the gray wolf, explaining to everyone.
"In principle, the Vengeful Fairy doesn't actively harm people. On the contrary, the earth it inhabits will try its best to summon forces to protect it, and these forces will cause harm."
"Sometimes it's easy to deal with, just some poisonous snakes and insects. Sometimes it's very difficult, because it might be a dragon."
"This summoning of guardians happens every time the Vengeful Fairy is disturbed."
"There's such a case in an underground cave in Northern Europe. Due to the constant disturbance by so-called brave men and greedy adventurers who didn't know their own limits year after year, the earth constantly summoned the Vengeful Fairy's guardians. Now that cave has essentially become a dragon's lair, inhabited by dozens of dragons."
As everyone exclaimed in surprise, he maintained his perfect smile and reassured them, "Don't worry, from the information we just observed, it's easy to know that there are no dragons here."
"Then what could it be?" Harry Potter asked bravely.
To be honest, he was starting to feel a little less afraid.
Just like Lockhart had taught them, they needed to immerse themselves in "fairy-tale romance." He now felt a surge of adventurous excitement, which gave him great courage.
He even started to feel a bit excited, holding his wand with a sense of eager anticipation.
He hadn't performed so well in the fight against Draco before, and he hoped there would be a moment for him to show his abilities later. Then he would show the annoying Draco and Snape that he wasn't the "brainless stupid Potter" they thought he was!
"What could it be?"
Lockhart stopped, chuckling, and turned back to look at Mr. Urquart, whose expression was shifting. "That depends on whether Mr. Urquart has recently brought any dangerous things into his home."
Instantly, everyone looked at young Urquart.
Young Urquart pursed his lips and didn't speak, clearly not wanting to talk about this.
But Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly. "Child, if it were any other time, I wouldn't ask this of you. But this time I've brought two students with me, and I must ensure their safety. You must tell the truth!"
Young Urquart looked somewhat helpless and could only sigh. "It was taken from Mr. Malfoy. He heard that Arthur Weasley intended to use his authority to search his house, so he had to urgently send away all the dangerous items in his family's collection."
Mr. Malfoy...
Draco's father, one of the leading figures of the "pure-blood supremacy" faction among the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families.
Arthur Weasley...
Ron's father, a low-key bigwig in the Ministry of Magic who simultaneously possessed independent legislative and enforcement powers.
In the era after Voldemort's revolution failed and most of the core members were sent to Azkaban prison, the influence of the "pure-blood supremacy" faction in the Ministry of Magic had dropped to its lowest point. Correspondingly, the influence of the pro-Muggle factions of the Weasley family, Longbottom family, Prewett family, and Abbott family, all Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, reached its peak, giving them more power.
Arthur Weasley's almost humiliatingly blatant intention to turn the Malfoy family upside down was the most vivid footnote to the current state of affairs.
The atmosphere became somewhat strange for a moment.
Professor Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "This period must be a feast for all the major pure-blood families. Everyone will try to get their hands on the Malfoy family's valuable collections."
Young Urquart shrugged. "Who says it isn't? They're all good things you can't usually buy with money."
These old pure-blood families had always coveted the so-called "Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families" and were happy to see these twenty-eight families fail or even perish. Naturally, they wouldn't miss this good opportunity to divide the Malfoy family's assets.
But without that foundation, they simply didn't have it.
Magical items weren't something anyone could collect.
You had to have the ability.
The Urquart family clearly didn't have this ability. The things they obtained went out of control, which was why they had to move their entire family out of the castle where they had lived for generations, the symbol of their family's glory.
Without a magical castle, there would be no house-elves seeking to attach themselves, which would make them looked down upon by other pure-blood families.
The Weasley family living in a haphazardly built shack was the most obvious example.
Even though Arthur possessed the authority to arbitrarily search other people's homes, his family's children were still looked down upon, and children like Ron, who weren't particularly outstanding themselves, would feel this even more deeply.
Such things also happened frequently in the Muggle world.
"A magical book, an old gramophone, and a Winged Demon."
Under everyone's gaze, young Urquart had no choice but to reveal all the collected items.
"A Winged Demon?!!!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, her face becoming stern as she stared intently at young Urquart. "This dangerous magical creature only eats human brains, Mr. Urquart! You tell me, how do you usually feed this magical creature?!!!"
"Oh! Merlin's beard!" Young Urquart looked somewhat flustered, waving his hands vigorously. "No, I would never do such an evil thing! That Winged Demon was tightly bound by some golden spider silk. I confirmed with Mr. Malfoy that it seemed to be sealed by a powerful wizard!"
Draco and Harry exchanged a horrified glance. "Eats human brains?"
They both subconsciously moved closer to Professor Lockhart, the big brother who could give them a sense of security.
But Professor Lockhart looked pensive.
"An old gramophone?"
Professor Lockhart pulled himself out of his complex memories and clicked his tongue. "If I'm not mistaken, it's a magical artifact invented in recent times, a method of using the 'wonderful world of music' to contain a certain phenomenon, storing black magical creatures in magical items for the purpose of communication."
"The most famous result of this kind is the 'Aladdin's Lamp' in fairy tales. Putting a Vengeful Fairy into a gramophone,tsk tsk, what an interesting idea."
He looked up at young Urquart. "If this speculation is correct, the 'Vengeful Fairy' in your castle is probably a fully mature black magical creature. This is the most dangerous stage."
"I guess after you obtained this magical artifact, you didn't know how to use it and just treated it as an interesting gramophone?"
"Didn't you feel a slightest bit of chill every time you listened to the music?"
Young Urquart was stunned.
He stammered, unable to speak.
What could he say? That every time his family proudly displayed the Malfoy family's collection, the banquet always reached its most lively and exciting moment, and everyone was so excited that who would really feel a chill?
"A mature 'Vengeful Fairy', plus a Winged Demon sealed for who knows how long without food..."
Lockhart's eyes narrowed. "I need more money!"
The matter of more money was actually easy to discuss. Mr. Urquart really didn't dare to keep those dangerous items from the Malfoy family anymore and offered the magical book and old gramophone he had painstakingly acquired from the Malfoy family with both hands.
As long as the current crisis could be completely resolved.
Clearly, this was not difficult for Lockhart.
He waved his wand and once again summoned a gray wolf from a patch of mist, instructing it to search the castle. Soon, the gray wolf returned with a mouse in its mouth.
"Professor McGonagall, your statement isn't entirely accurate."
"Feeding a Winged Demon doesn't necessarily require human brains. This magical creature, whose venom has the ability of a Memory Charm, doesn't like to eat brains, but rather brains containing human memories."
Lockhart gracefully waved his wand and pressed it against his temple, easily extracting a temporary strand of memory filled with many chaotic thoughts and inserting it into the mouse's head.
"Look~"
He gestured towards the squeaking and terrified mouse in the gray wolf's mouth. "It now has human memories."
Inserting human memories into an animal's brain was no ordinary feat.
But for Lockhart, it couldn't have been simpler.
So the group formed a circle, each vigilantly facing different corners, allowing the gray wolf to lead the way with the mouse in its mouth, slowly moving towards the depths of the castle.
"When you use the Disarming Charm later..."
Lockhart walked beside Harry and Draco's flying brooms. "Try to knock the Winged Demon towards the mouse. This isn't difficult for you. You should have encountered similar techniques during Quidditch team training. You must know how to apply what you've learned flexibly."
He had indeed created bait.
But for the Winged Demon, these human brains were clearly more delicious than the mouse brain with a tiny bit of human memory. It would definitely tend to attack them first.
Harry and Draco nodded with serious expressions.
Finally, as everyone entered a dark corridor in the castle, a wild cat attracted by the beneficial fungal spring water rushed over, causing everyone to react instinctively. A dazzling blue light descended from the sky, diving straight towards Lockhart.
as expected!
Lockhart exclaimed inwardly. Sure enough, his human brain filled with countless memories was definitely the most delicious food in the Winged Demon's eyes!
At this moment, he could only hope that the two little helpers he had cultivated could be of some use.
As it turned out, his efforts during this time had not been in vain.
The "Savior" was indeed the "Savior."
No matter how fast the Winged Demon's attack speed was, it wasn't as fast as the Golden Snitch, and its wingspan was many times larger than the Golden Snitch.
Accompanied by a hysterical roar—"Expelliarmus!"—the dazzling blue light squeaked and was thrown far away.
This Winged Demon was clearly extremely hungry and didn't fixate on Lockhart. It conveniently dealt with the prey it could catch first.
It completely enveloped the gray wolf and the mouse in its mouth, like an extremely beautiful and enchanting large butterfly.
In just an instant, the gray wolf, which didn't have much magical power to begin with, dissipated back into mist. The mouse let out a miserable scream as its skull was continuously bitten by the Winged Demon.
The Winged Demon's teeth were extremely sharp, easily tearing through tough dragon hide and hard dragon scales, let alone the ordinary mouse in its mouth.
Finding the right angle, a crisp bone-cracking sound echoed eerily in the dark castle corridor as it sucked.
Lockhart stopped the eager Harry and Draco, and once again extracted a silvery thread-like substance from his head, placing it in the palm of his left hand. He slowly approached the Winged Demon, his palm supporting these memories.
"Squeak~~"
The Winged Demon alertly raised its bone-white slender head, its cry somewhat shrill.
Lockhart slowly curled his fingers, forming a small cage, as if to knead the memories back into his fist.
So the Winged Demon no longer hesitated and quickly rushed towards his palm.
As it got closer, its body rapidly shrunk, from a wingspan of one and a half meters to slightly smaller than a normal bat.
After entering his palm, it forcefully enveloped that piece of memory.
And Lockhart gently pressed his fingers against its small head's eye sockets.
The Winged Demon, its eyes covered, struggled slightly for a moment, then finally quieted down after half a minute.
Lockhart breathed a sigh of relief, pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket, gently placed it inside, and seeing everyone's curiosity, explained, "A Winged Demon with its eyes covered will easily fall asleep. It just ate two pieces of memory, which is enough for it to enter a deep sleep for a long time."
As he spoke, he casually stuffed the small cloth bag into his wizard robe pocket.
Young Urquart looked at this scene, wanting to say something but stopping, finally choosing to close his mouth under Professor Snape's slightly mocking gaze.
This was obtained at a great cost!
But he also knew very well that even if Professor Lockhart explained it very thoroughly, he wouldn't be able to subdue this powerful Winged Demon by simply following his example.
His mind understood, but his hands wouldn't.
Even if his hands understood, he couldn't achieve such a skillful and daring ease.
Without that ability, no matter how powerful this monster was, it didn't belong to him. Forcibly keeping it would only bring a new round of disaster.
What could he do? He could only follow everyone and continue forward.
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