Eradicating the Roots

A deep pallor washed over Little Aiken's stiff face; even in his limp state, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"You, you... how could this be..." He squeezed out a few words through his teeth with all his might.

Sean squatted on the ground, his face full of curiosity, like a child staring at an ant.

"I have only one assessment of your plan: crude."

Sean crouched half a meter away from Little Aiken, without getting any closer, just with a playful expression on his face.

"I must say, I was quite puzzled at first. You came to help Umbridge, but let her fall into my trap. That didn't make sense. I even wondered if you were going to focus on dealing with Grindelwald. But then I realized that you and your father are not exactly smart people. You know you are no match for Grindelwald, so your target must be me."

Sean became more and more talkative, as if he had just opened a floodgate.

"Think about it this way and it becomes very simple. You don't care about the situation at Hogwarts, nor do you care about the progress of Umbridge's work. You just want me dead. Everything you do is for me."

"Tsk, let me think—" Sean looked thoughtful, then clapped his hands after a moment. "You weren't there when Umbridge and Malfoy clashed. You must have expected me to notice something was wrong and come looking for you. You just need to put on a show to pique my curiosity—I think someone's infiltrated Malfoy's group, right? As long as I'm not with Malfoy, he'll notify you. Then you just need to stay in an easily noticeable, secluded corner and wait for me to eavesdrop."

As Sean's cheerful voice faded, Little Aiken's face grew paler and paler, and his jaw clenched together with all his might.

Sean continued talking to himself, "You threw out the news about Grindelwald, the strange things about the Ministry of Magic, and even the odd things about Newmontgard to increase credibility—of course it's credible, because it's all probably true."

"Including the day before yesterday, when you told me that Rookwood had been arrested, that was also to get my attention. You know me quite well, you know I don't like this kind of closed-off information environment, you know I will find ways to learn more—you're trying to get my attention on the Ministry of Magic."

"At this point, I definitely need to find an [insider] to get information—tsk, you're covered in Magical Item and you're especially wary of me, I definitely won't choose you. So there's only one left— Umbridge."

At this point, Little Aiken was practically grinding his teeth to powder, and the malice in his eyes was almost overflowing.

"When did you find out..." he asked, his voice filled with pain and anger.

Sean smiled slightly, "Just use your brain to reason it out. Besides, you're really too hasty, and the plan is so rough. Look, you even specifically told me you were going to leave Hogwarts, isn't that a reminder to me—I'm not in the castle, so hurry up and make your move on Umbridge!"

"To be honest, my sister's acting when she wanted an extra ice cream was better than yours—although your emotions and expressions were all spot on, you know, people's eyes don't lie... You really wanted to kill me."

Blood was slowly seeping from the corner of Little Aiken's mouth; his teeth had bitten his lip until it bled.

"You, you... Impossible! If you knew I was going to do this, why did you touch Umbridge's memories! And how could your Dark Mark be removed!" Little Aiken seemed to refuse to believe it, desperately trying to find a flaw in Sean's defenses.

Sean winked at him. "I won't touch Umbridge's memories. Will you bring anyone with you? This is to make you more confident, and besides, I need some witnesses—both sides, good and bad. Oh, right—"

Sean flashed a bright white smile, "I covered it with two layers of memories. The bottom layer, the one where I 'accidentally' revealed the Dark Mark because of the pain from the quill pen, was also fake. I used another fake memory to cover it up—see, you took the bait, didn't you? You thought I was hiding the Dark Mark ~"

Moreover, my Dark Mark can be freely hidden... Sean didn't say that.

Apart from Bella, all the Death Eaters believed that the Dark Mark could not be hidden, of course, it all depended on whether Sean wanted to or not.

Little Aiken's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, and beads of sweat trickled down his throbbing forehead. He looked towards the other side of the corridor, the way he had come from, his eyes even filled with confusion.

"How could this be... how could this be..."

Sean smiled and said, "Nothing is impossible. To be honest, my Illusion Charm is very powerful, extremely powerful—the people you brought are watching my fake body right now."

To be precise, it was Illusion Charm enhanced by Hermione Echo. Sean was very confident that it was at Grindelwald's level.

"Then, then I..." Little Aiken tried his best to move, but he couldn't get any response from his body.

"Oh, this? You must be wondering why I knocked you out so suddenly, since you weren't carrying any defensive Magical Item and you don't eat any food you don't trust."

Sean smiled, clenched his fist, and held out the ring to Little Aiken. Inside was a dark, round eye, but Little Aiken showed no signs of sleepiness.

"See, I guessed it... You were tricked like this by me once when you were in Newmontgard, so you'll definitely be wary of hypnotic magic. Let me see, tsk, colored contact lenses? The kind with magic? The Aiken Family is really extravagant."

"You, you..."

Sean snapped his fingers, "Stop with the 'you,' so what if you have a bunch of Magical Item? You certainly don't have a Potions professor who's so skilled that he'll put you in solitary confinement if you daydream—I tampered with that black gem you put in Umbridge's office, good heavens, you don't think nobody noticed it, do you? Of course, that's only part of the gas Potions. The incense you smelled today is another part, hehe, I just put it in. The two together make a powerful sedative gas Potions, obviously, it only works on you."

Thanks to Snape's Potions Notebook, Sean not only managed to save his Potions grades, but also learned a whole host of bizarre and wonderful ways to poison people.

It must be said that poisoning is much simpler than brewing Potions.

Little Aiken's cheek was pressed against the cold stone slab, his chest heaving violently, and his eyes were filled with an unyielding despair.

Sean turned his head to the side, his smiling eyes gradually lowered, and his voice became cold.

"You've realized it now? You think the same thing as me, you're too weak, and you know it. When we first met, at least your magic was stronger than mine, but so much time has passed, and you haven't improved at all, not even a tiny bit. The only thing you've improved in is your previously barren mind; you've finally become a little smarter! Although this plan is rough, at least it's a plan, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, you still have to rely on external forces, which is why you've brought so many people here—how great, they can now provide me with a perfect alibi."

Little Aiken closed his eyes completely, seemingly resigned to his fate.

Sean just chuckled and slapped his cheek hard.

"Open your eyes and look at what this is?" He held up an earring, a bracelet, a necklace, and even the decorative button on Little Aiken's belt.

Little Aiken completely broke down. His mouth opened slightly, his pupils contracted and dilated with shock and panic, and all he could make was a muffled whimper.

"Tsk tsk, this earring should have an automatic recording spell, like a camera? The bracelet is a recovery type, judging by the magic fluctuations, it must be expensive, right? The necklace and this thing are both trigger-activated Defensive Magic items, no, no, they can also counterattack. Luckily I didn't make a move just now, shouldn't you applaud my quick thinking? Oh, I almost forgot, it probably also has a message sending function—if I use violence or spells on you."

Between Sean's fingers, a tiny Occamy slowly coiled upwards.

"Many people only know that the Niffler is a good thief, but few people know that a very obedient and intelligent Occamy that can shrink its body at will is the top thief."

Sean stood up and then kicked Little Aiken hard in the face, teeth and blood splattering and hitting his eye socket.

"Do you think I enjoy explaining things to others? Do you think you're the only one stalling for time? You've acted out the despair and humiliation between life and death quite well, but unfortunately, my little Naja is also quick to grab things."

There was no magical fluctuation, and no responding items.

Little Aiken lay trembling on the ground like a crippled dead dog, making painful sounds that seemed to be begging for mercy, or perhaps insulting someone.

Sean raised his eyelids slightly, then stripped Little Aiken naked and threw him into the ring.

"Imperio" (Imperio)

Little Aiken finally got his wand back, but his eyes were lifeless, and he kept pressing the tip of the wand against his temple as the silver threads of memory were being drawn out.

Sean put the silver fluff into the Pensieve, and after a while, he raised his head.

Just now, he had Little Aiken extract all the important memories himself, and if Sean wanted, he could now transform into the real Fabian Aiken.

Of course, before Sean can do anything more, the scraps that have been squeezed dry need to be disposed of.

He looked at Little Aiken, who was slumped on the ground with lifeless eyes.

Dave was curiously examining the other person, his face already dripping with saliva.

"Dave— " Sean's voice turned stern. "Didn't I say that eating human brains is forbidden, especially the rotten brains of this idiot?"

"No, no, I just wanted to take a look and smell him—do you want me to bite him to death for you?!" Dave thought to himself.

"Don't bother with me, go back to sleep." Sean said irritably. "The food environment is very important. What if you get diarrhea? And I'm warning you again, if you eat someone's brain, you're never allowed to rub your head against me again."

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I won't eat anymore." Dave glanced longingly at Little Aiken, then quickly leaped back and transformed into Thorn Sheath, landing steadily in Sean's hand.

That's more like it... Sean tossed Dave around like a yo-yo, then casually raised his wand toward Little Aiken.

He lifted the Imperius Curse.

Due to excessive memory extraction, Little Aiken's eyes had begun to roll back, but his strong will to survive still allowed him to utter his last words.

"I... I can tell you everything... all my habits, all my secrets... Aren't you going to impersonate me to infiltrate the organization?"

Little Aiken weakly raised his hand to his head, frantically tearing at his hair, but his limp hand couldn't support the movement.

He was frantic, gesturing frantically to Sean: "Look, look, here's your hair, all of it! You can use the Polyjuice Potion, I know..."

"Shh..." Sean put a finger to his lips and crouched down slightly with a smile. "Don't make a sound."

He was as gentle as if he were coaxing a fussy child to sleep.

Little Aiken stared blankly as he let his powerless hand fall to his sides, looking at him with pleading, humble eyes.

"Really, you can't imagine my mercy... You actually managed to die with your sanity intact..." Sean chuckled.

"Combustficus"

Crimson flames burst forth merrily from Little Aiken's seven orifices.

The little fireman, who had collapsed to the ground, finally regained some strength due to the intense stimulation. Endless pain came over him, but he could only let out incoherent roars.

"Tsk, I'm satisfied to see you so desperate." Sean clapped his hands lightly.

Black smoke rose up, and Cat-Leopard Pudding stood leaning against the table, its two paws on its belly holding the Aero-Wing Bird, turning it around to prevent its young heart from being disturbed.

Then, with its two claws, one claw was feeding a chicken leg into its own mouth, and the other claw was feeding a small fish to the Aero-Wing Bird.

When only ashes remained on the ground, the cat and the bird simultaneously burped.

Sean waved his hand. "You guys play by yourselves for a while, I'll bring you some good food tomorrow."

"Yay!"

The Wampus Cat, the Aero-Wing Bird, the Basilisk, the Occamy, and the Swooping Evil all let out joyful shouts.

No one gave the black ash on the ground another glance.

Sean didn't rush back to Umbridge's office; he had already obtained enough information from Little Aiken's memories.

The leader of that Guard Corps actually received a sponsorship fee from the Aiken Family every year, and the two had already discussed their escape route before they came—although Little Aiken was full of confidence.

Sean still has at least two hours to do what he wants, as the Guard Corps will just keep dragging their feet.

Sean waved his wand at himself, and after a twist, Fabian Aiken, with a gloomy face, appeared in the corridor.

It must be said that the Aiken family is indeed very wealthy, having prepared several Portkey for their escape.

One of them is a new manor that leads directly to the Aiken Family.

Sean already knows all the secret passages, access codes, and magic keys to the new manor.

I have something to do tonight. If I can make it back, I'll write another chapter. If I can't, just consider this chapter posted a little early so you won't keep scolding me for missing chapters.