Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 417 The Vampire Conspiracy

"Your most loyal servant?" Caresius said disdainfully. "As a reward for his loyalty, all he can gain is death."

"If that is the case, it would be an honor for him to die for the Dark Lord, an honor that many of my followers are eager to obtain," Voldemort said coldly. "And on the British side, how are your men?"

"They are ready; they are waiting for an opportunity. You cannot expect a group of vampires to break into the home of a senior Ministry of Magic official in broad daylight to find a hidden Death Eater," Caresius said. "We have received word that Britain will host the Quidditch World Cup in the near future. At that time, wizards will flock to the country from all over the world. All meddlesome members of the Ministry of Magic will be deployed and concentrated in one place, thinking about security, fearing exposure to Muggles, and too preoccupied to think of anything else. We are ready to act at that moment."

"Do not make too much noise, Caresius, we cannot attract Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic's attention," Voldemort whispered. "I can wait, believe me, you and your people are very important. I do not want them to be sacrificed in vain."

"It is a true honor!" Caresius said disdainfully.

There was another awkward silence, and neither of them said anything.

The profound distrust between both sides was evident!

For Voldemort, he might even give up his most loyal servant. There was no reason to believe how important a group of uncooperative vampires would be to him.

"Give me a body." After a long time, Voldemort said with his icy, penetrating voice, "I feel the last magic of this Temple is about to lose its effect. I want to acquire that Philosopher's Stone and see the person hidden beneath it in person. I have heard much about him. The power of this unknown creature from the void is unique and can be useful."

Evan entered the desolate ruins of the Centaurs with Sirius, and they followed the winding path to the empty square in front of the central Temple.

The sight before him astonished him.

Compared to what he had imagined, it was much more crowded here.

There were hundreds of wizards crowded together, and there was a constant flow of hawkers everywhere. It resembled Diagon Alley.

The stalls were filled with potions and adventure supplies. Additionally, many merchants and even goblins were collecting newly found loot in the Centaurs' ruins.

These trophies included carved tablets with ancient magic inscriptions, planetary trajectories, Centaur sacrificial objects, etc., but most of them were made of large amounts of gold, with a strange abstract style and seemingly nonsensical decorations.

Evan skeptically eyed a goblin under the Gringotts banner and what he had just collected from an exploration team.

He never knew that the fallen Centaurs had amassed so much gold.

These fallen Centaurs did not seem to be the same as the Centaurs he knew. In the Moon Temple in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, he only saw relatively cheap obsidian and granite.

This extinct tribe of Centaurs obviously cared more about luxury.

This was too suspicious. Seeing these gold ornaments, Evan wondered if it was an abandoned colony of Centaurs or an underground vault in Gringotts.

Indeed, for a long time, Centaurs had been outside the mainstream society of the magical world.

As arrogant creatures of the forest, if not necessary, they generally did not interact with humans or other creatures, whether wizards or goblins. They did not trust them.

They had their own areas of interest, Magical Healing, Divination, Herbology, Archery, and Astronomy.

Evan had not heard or seen anywhere that Centaurs were interested in gold, a precious metal only enjoyed by humans and goblins. They did not need to trade with the outside world and were generally self-sufficient.

Only a few collectors or magic historians interested in the civilization of Centaurs would pay attention to a relic in ruins left by a lost Centaur civilization.

But because of this gold, it had attracted a large number of greedy adventurers in a short time.

In addition to the wizards trading in the square, there were more people in the central Temple.

On the other side of the square, there were a large number of ragged shops of various shapes, managed by specialized staff to be rented out to needy adventurers.

"It's so strange in here!" said Sirius. "Where on earth did the Centaurs get so much gold to make these decorations?"

"I can't quite see how they did it unless they had transformed the Philosopher's Stone and could use it like Flamel."

Squatting in front of a stall, Evan carefully examined a mask made of pure gold.

"You only need to pay a hundred Gold Galleons to take it home!" shouted the stall owner. "This mask holds a high collector's value."

"Thank you, I don't need it," said Evan. "I think it's best if I don't touch it."

He stood up and quickly moved away from Sirius.

"We should be careful. These things could have strange magical reactions," said Evan in a hushed voice. "This feeling is very familiar, like..."

He closed his eyes and carefully recalled the detection magic from the previous night.

And long ago, Elaine had cast a unique imprisonment spell on him.

"This is magic that only vampires can use!" Evan stated with certainty. "There is a dangerous spell cast upon it, but I still don't know its specific purpose."

"Vampires and spells?" repeated Sirius.

This was truly intriguing. Traces of spells left by vampires in the decorations made by the ancient Centaurs. There must be terrible things happening here.

They didn't know for what purpose the vampires were spreading cursed gold ornaments around the horse remnants, luring foolish adventurers to the ruins.

Evan couldn't see how it would benefit them. Avoiding the sight of human wizards and hiding in dark corners was how vampires would prefer to operate.

Too much noise would attract the attention of the Ministries of Magic and the main society of magical circles in various countries. So the only fate awaiting those vampires was their extinction.

Even with those curses on the gold, it was impossible for them to eliminate all the wizards who would come to the place, and it didn't mean much to them.

As for prey, there were too many wizards here. And seeing the strong and wild wizards around, Evan wondered if the taste of vampires would be so unique. How could it be possible?

If they were not food, then the only purpose of gathering so many people was...