Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 502 The Terrifying Shadows Of The Vampires

Concerning the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, it was truly dreadful. No accident, people could never locate her.

After Sirius joined the Ministry of Magic, he was in charge of the Remains of the Fallen Centaurs.

However, it occurred in Albany and beyond the scope of the British Ministry of Magic.

The Special Investigative Team of the International Confederation of Wizards had been working on the matter for over a week, but little substantial progress had been made.

The specific list of deceased wizards and witches had not been determined, and the purpose behind the vampires' actions remained unclear.

All was shrouded in mystery, and the terror of the vampires spread throughout the magical world.

Caresius and his followers had become wanted worldwide, but they simply didn't care. On the contrary, it was the ordinary people who panicked, fearing another vampire attack.

They didn't even dare to go to crowded places, and the items meant to deter vampires quickly ran out.

Even the toy crosses made by Fred and George were scarce. God knew their purpose besides changing color.

Furthermore, vampires did not fear crosses at all. Those were merely Muggle myths.

"Send someone to find Bertha Jorkins! Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks," Percy said quickly.

"Crouch is lucky Rita hasn't discovered Winky," Mr. Weasley said irritably, "there would be a whole week of headlines about his house-elf caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."

"I thought we all agreed that elf, though irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark," Percy argued heatedly.

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how bad he is with elves," Hermione said angrily. "I really want to report this to the Hogwarts Magic."

"Now listen, Hermione," Percy immediately retorted. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unwavering obedience from his servants..."

"His slave, you mean!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, right?"

"Alright, Hermione," Evan hurriedly interjected, "You know Percy didn't mean that."

The topic of Winky had recently sparked heated debates for Hermione.

During this time, she had not stopped urging people to be kind to house-elves and accusing Crouch of cruelty.

This led to arguments with Percy, who staunchly supported Crouch, and both refused to back down whenever they crossed paths.

The relationship between the two had shifted from best friends to a deadlock.

If Evan's relationship became so tense with someone, he would simply stop talking to them. But Hermione and Percy were not like that. They argued every time they met, trying to convince each other.

They never tired of it, but those around them did.

"I think everyone should go upstairs and check if they've packed properly," Mrs. Weasley interjected, interrupting the discussion. "Come on, all of you..."

Evan tucked the scroll filled with ancient texts into his arm and took Hermione, who was still staring at Percy, to go up the stairs.

Harry also repacked his Quidditch kit, put his Firebolt over his shoulder, and followed Ron and Ginny.

Hermione and Ginny returned to their room, and Evan and the others continued upstairs.

The rain sounded even louder on the top of the house, accompanied by the whistling and moaning of the wind, not to mention the occasional howling of the ghoul living in the attic.

In the room, Pigwidgeon started hooting and flying around his cage as they entered. The sight of the half-packed trunks seemed to have filled him with frenzy of excitement.

Hedwig glared at him indignantly, her large amber eyes filled with reproach.

"Give him some Owl Treats," Ron suggested, tossing a package to Evan. "It might calm him down."

"I wish Hermione and Percy would stop fighting and that Hermione would give up the idea of defending house-elves," Harry sighed, putting his Firebolt on his bunk. "What are these things?"

"These are the things mom got for us in Diagon Alley, and they will be used in the new term," Ron replied.

He lifted a pile of packages onto the bed and set the money bag and a pile of socks next to it.

After giving Pig and Hedwig a little more owl treats, Evan began to unwrap what Mrs. Weasley had bought for him.

In addition to a handful of new quills, he had a dozen parchment rolls and refills for his potion kit. The rest were all books that Evan planned to read. They were more than Harry and Ron's books combined.

He used his wand to shrink his books to the size of a palm. Then he put them in the cloth bag he was carrying. He didn't need a trunk at all.

"How convenient!" Harry looked at Evan's cloth bag and said, "How much could that hold?"

"Unnoticeable Extension Charm!" Evan explained, "Depending on the power used to cast it, it also changes the range of the extended space. This is a very deep and very troublesome magic, it takes a long time to complete."

"I saw it in Diagon Alley last time. It required too many Galleons to buy one!" Ron said as he packed his books into his trunk, "It's very convenient, isn't it?! I wish I could be stronger and learn this Charm as soon as possible."

"You will learn this magic in seventh year, but you can try studying it before that." Evan untied the cloth bag and handed it to the curious Harry. "It involves many advanced curse theories. There are many things you need to learn."

"I guess there's no hope!" Ron wrinkled his nose and said, "Can you cast this magic now with the help of the Philosopher's Stone?"

"There shouldn't be a problem," Evan replied.

In fact, he didn't need to use the Philosopher's Stone to do it, but this magic was too troublesome. Evan had no time to waste, not to mention that the bag Flamel gave him was better than any other. Many of the alchemical techniques mentioned were beyond Evan's imagination at that moment.

"It's really cool! The Philosopher's Stone is truly amazing! I wish I had one too, so I could become strong." Ron sighed, looking at the Slytherin locket hanging from Evan's chest. Then, as if having a revelation, he added, "Oh! You said the Four Founders left treasure keys, so there are three more out there..."

In fact, Evan had always been thinking about it and needed to find the Philosopher's Stones left by the other three Founders as soon as possible.

As for their specific locations, he already had ideas, and when he returned to Hogwarts, he could continue his search.