Some News

The news brought by Barty Jr.. greatly shocked Sean. He had always believed that as long as the Blood Pact existed, the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald would be unshakeable.

After all, there wasn't a duel between the two most powerful wizards in 1945, was there? Their battle decades ago had ended because of Grindelwald's change of heart, hadn't it?

But whenever news of Barty Jr. came, Sean always felt uneasy.

The next day, taking advantage of his day off, Sean went to the library. He obtained a Restricted Section library card from Professor Flitwick and then wandered around under Madam Pince's watchful eye.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Madam Pince stared at Sean warily. She had been following Sean for twenty minutes with a feather duster in hand.

"Um, madam, I just wanted to find some information about rare and Magical Creatures..." Sean made up a lie on the spot.

He wanted to look in the Restricted Section for any information about the Blood Pact.

Beneath her glasses, Madam Pince's brow furrowed. She raised her feather duster and looked at Sean with ill intent. "Information on Magical Creatures... Why don't you go to Professor Scamander? He was the first magizoologist in the Wizarding World. The Hogwarts Library isn't omnipotent, at least not when it comes to Magical Creatures. I don't think the information in the Restricted Section can compare to Professor Scamander's knowledge."

"Oh, that's true. But Professor Scamander mentioned that some materials in the Restricted Section list extinct Magical Creatures species, you know." Sean invoked Newt's name; after all, even if Madam Pince went to verify it, Newt would probably cover for him.

Madam Pince, who treated library materials like a mother hen protecting her eggs, was clearly not so easy to deal with. She tapped her hand with a feather duster and asked suspiciously, "Then why was the library card issued by Professor Flitwick?"

"In fact, Professor Scamander is not in his office; he appears to have gone out," Sean replied truthfully.

He did go to Newt first, but Newt wasn't there, so he had no choice but to go to Professor Flitwick.

Honestly, Lockhart's little notes were probably the most useful— Madam Pince was a die-hard fan of Lockhart.

But Sean really didn't want to go along with Lockhart's utterly ridiculous classroom skits, so he gave up without hesitation.

Madam Pince argued for a while longer until Sean took out a book from the bookshelf titled "An Exhibition of Fossils of the Most Dangerous Ancient Magical Creatures," at which Madam Pince gave up monitoring him.

Sean pretended to browse the books on the table for a while, and while Madam Pince went to chase after the Weasley brothers who were eating sandwiches in the library, he tiptoed off to find more books.

The beating Fred and George received was in exchange for a promise from Sean —he promised to help the two bastards enhance the brightness of the Golden Dawn symbol.

"The Compendium of Ancient Magic, I've seen it, but I don't... Advanced Dark Arts Decoded, I've seen it, but it's not as good as what I have in my head... I also read The Medieval Rune Rituals when I sneaked in last time, but I didn't understand it..."

Sean muttered to himself as he quickly flipped through the books in the Restricted Section Restricted Section, which he had sneaked into a few times before.

Quickly browsing the table of contents, Sean kept searching for the information he wanted.

"The Deadly Contract ..." Sean's gaze stopped on a book, and one of the entries in the table of contents caught his eye.

"Blood Pact: Reflections on Visiting Baron Skinner's Manor in the 13th Century"

Blood-based contract magic is rare, and these types of magic may be interconnected.

Before Madam Pince returned, Sean immediately pulled out the book and turned to that page.

This article doesn't contain much information about Blood Pact, and it doesn't mention the spells or methods of casting Blood Pact, but it does describe how such Blood Pact have been manifested in history.

The book mentions that at the end of the 13th century, there was a baron named Skinner in a certain village.

The village was Baron Skinner's territory. There's no need to go into the details, but you only need to know one thing: Baron Skinner and his wife were actually two quite accomplished wizards.

The two lived in seclusion here, using their magic to occasionally help the villagers in their territory, and were highly respected in the area.

What's even more fascinating is that Baron Skinner and Baroness had a very good relationship, and both were even willing to give their lives for their loved ones.

After several years of this, a horrifying incident occurred at the Baron Skinner's Manor.

Overnight, most of the manor was destroyed, and all the servants and livestock died. The villagers, who had noticed the strange occurrence, were concerned for the kind Baron Skinner and went to their rescue.

Then, the entire village witnessed a scene they would never forget.

The Baroness walked out of the manor in a daze, her eyes ashen, her face a mixture of grief and hatred, just like the flames in her hands.

The villagers retreated in terror. The Baroness was not only manipulating the flames, but she was also carrying a man in one hand—her beloved Baron Skinner.

The baron was lifted into the air by immense force, blood flowing from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. He weakly raised his hand as if to caress his lover's face, but in the end, it fell back down.

Immediately afterwards, the Baroness, without hesitation, snapped her husband's throat in front of everyone.

The moment Baron Skinner died, his body swelled up like a water-filled balloon, and blood seeped from the pores of his taut skin, gathering in mid-air.

Once all the blood in Baron Skinner's body had been drawn out, he became completely shriveled up, and the Baroness tilted her head back and inhaled all of his blood.

The villagers who witnessed this scene were terrified and ran for their lives, but then an accident happened.

The baroness, having absorbed Baron Skinner's blood, also swelled up in agony, eventually exploding. The villagers who couldn't escape were engulfed by the explosion and died instantly. Of the hundreds of people in the village, only a few dozen survived.

Baron Skinner's Manor became a notorious place of ill omen in the area.

Centuries later, a wizard investigated the matter and eventually found traces of what had been left behind in the ruins of the manor.

It turns out that Baron Skinner and his wife had long ago formed Blood Pact, and the two had been performing Blood Pact magic rituals in the basement of the manor.

This unknown Blood Pact magic seems to be the bond that holds the two together, but deep within the Blood Pact magic lies the malice of another person.

The Blood Pact Blood Pact magic has been altered. The specific effects of the alteration are unknown, but it is clear that the change signifies the breakdown of the love between the two.

Surprisingly, later scholars learned some clues about the original alterations from them.

The traitor was not the Baroness, but Baron Skinner.

The Baroness, for some reason, sensed her husband's malice. Deeply hurt, she chose to retaliate and transformed herself into the master of Blood Pact magic. However, she ultimately died from an explosion caused by unknown factors.

Baron Skinner's notes were found at the scene of the incident, and one sentence in the notes was translated and recorded.

"Hate is based on love, and through Equivalent Exchange, it gains immense power."

Sean frowned after reading the entire content.

Blood-based contract magic is interconnected in some way, and the Blood Pact magic recorded in the book may be related to Blood Pact.

"Hate is based on love, Equivalent Exchange, and great power is bestowed upon it... What does this sentence mean..." Sean buried his head in thought.

However, before he could come up with anything, a gust of "eerie wind" came from behind him.

"Mr. Wallop, what are you doing?"

Sean felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around stiffly and saw Madam Pince holding a feather duster.

Oh no, I was in such a rush when I was looking through the bookshelf that I didn't put so many books away properly...

"Um, Madam, um, let me look for the relevant information..."

Madam Pince's feather duster floated into the air, her voice dark and angry. "How dare you! Get out!"

"Sorry!"

Sean, screaming in pain, fled the library as he was chased and beaten by a feather duster.

After escaping to a corner, Sean rubbed his buttocks and shoulders, glancing out with lingering fear.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Madam Pince's feather duster hadn't followed.

"Hiss... This feather duster is more ruthless than many Dark Arts..." Dark Arts master Sean exclaimed.

They were beaten up, but didn't get any specific information. The contents of the book "Deadly Contract" regarding Blood Pact were too vague, and it might not even be related to the Blood Pact.

However, before running away, Sean noted down the location of the Baron Skinner's Manor in the book. If he had the chance and the need, he planned to go there to check it out and maybe find some information—if not, he'd just treat it as sightseeing.

Sean, rubbing his bottom, walked out of the castle and soon found Hermione and Daisy by the Black Lake.

Daisy waved to him, while Hermione beside her was reading the newspaper.

Sean walked over and plopped down, landing right on the spot where he had just been hit by the feather duster. He gasped, realizing he had contributed to global warming.

"Sean, you got hit?" Daisy handed him a glass of chilled Pumpkin Juice, her beautiful eyes curving into crescents.

Hermione, without even looking up from the newspaper, said, "He must have been hit. Sean can be clumsy sometimes, but Madam Pince's feather duster is always fair."

Sean took the Pumpkin Juice, gulped it down, and then said helplessly, "That's too fair. Ouch, that really hurts—by the way, any news today?"

Hermione unfolded the newspaper in her hand, pointed to a small section, and said, "Look, that's all. Apart from the Merlin's Weekly Prophet, no other newspapers have reported on this extensively. The Guard Corps spokesperson came out and said that it was Grindelwald's conspiracy. The Daily Prophet also only published a small section about it."

Sean glanced at the uninformative report, then lay down on the grass. "As expected, put pressure on the state media, then let it go."

"But this is not a long-term solution," Hermione said, resting her chin on her hand on the grass. "A cold approach will only allow things to escalate. The Guard Corps had the upper hand, and this is definitely not what they want to see."

"So, it all comes down to who can outsmart whom."

In the basement of the Wizarding United Guard, a middle-aged man sitting in a leather armchair turned his chair and looked at Cyril Marshall sitting at the table.

"Cyril, it's wonderful news that you're back," he said sincerely, but he didn't stand up.

Marshall looked calmly at the man before him, Diane Allison.

The Guard Corps was initially created by her and Allison, with the latter providing the resources and her handling the affairs.

After the Guard Corps was established, the other party handed over the position of temporary leader to him—after all, a temporary leader always has to take on responsibilities, and his goal was to become the first official leader of the Guard Corps.

Marshall had no complaints about this; she always upheld the original purpose of the Guard Corps —for a better world.

Therefore, hunting down Grindelwald, this unstable bomb, is acceptable.

However, half a year has passed, and the Wizarding World does not seem to have gotten any better.

Marshall lowered his head slightly. "It's a pleasure to see you, Allison."

"Of course we should be happy to be reunited," Allison said with a sigh, but there was no joy on his face. "However, we are now facing a huge problem."

Marshall shook his head. "It's my fault. We underestimated Grindelwald."

"It's no one's fault. After all, we came up with the plan together. It's just that Grindelwald is too cunning and too powerful," Allison sighed.

"So what do we do next?" Marshall asked.

"First, there's the information you got from Grindelwald, Marshall. I need you to recall all the details."

Marshall shook his head. "I don't think the information I brought back is very valuable. After all, Grindelwald may have already considered these things. He might give me false information and then use it to set a trap."

"But we can tell, can't we?" Allison said. "Besides, his plan was clearly to kill you and Onassis, a classic cover-up, and I think your information will be of great value."

Marshall looked thoughtful, and finally nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

"I don't know much. First of all, Onassis and I being controlled and brought to Belgium was entirely his order; we didn't know the purpose of this action." Marshall glanced at Allison, and seeing that he didn't respond, continued, "However, when he was discussing the plan with his subordinates, he didn't hide it from me, who was under the influence of the Imperius Curse. He said—"

"Wait a minute, my dear friend," Allison suddenly interrupted her.

"?"

"The experience of those who came before me tells me that Grindelwald is not only powerful in magic, but also a master of bewitching people—" Allison suddenly laughed, "Marshall, this eloquent Dark Lord has been controlling you with the Imperius Curse all along, without trying... well, to gain your trust and support?"

"Are you questioning my loyalty to the Guard Corps, Allison?" Marshall stared at him expressionlessly.

"No, this is just a friend's concern," Allison said without changing his expression.

Marshall paused for a moment, then finally nodded. "Yes, Grindelwald once broke the Imperius Curse, and he tried to recruit me."