Memories of a Returner

Leon Schneider narrowed his eyes slightly and patted Reinhardt on the shoulder approvingly. "Well done, my friend."

Reinhardt felt slightly uncomfortable with the other party's condescending attitude, but he still frowned and said, "Is this your plan? To make me pretend to be of the so-called Nott family bloodline and get involved with that idiot?"

Leon Schneider didn't show any displeasure; he just smiled slightly and said, "You're too impatient, Reinhardt. No goal is achieved overnight. Many things are necessary to better accomplish the goal—and once you're actually with us, you'll understand why we do this."

Reinhardt glanced at him, then licked his lips. "Putting everything else aside, you guys are quite good at arousing curiosity— the Sin and those so-called Eight Great Families, are they the forces behind you?"

"It doesn't matter if I reveal a little of this to you," Leon Schneider said, toying with a black crystal in his hand. "What I told you to tell Theodore Nott is basically true. There are forces behind the Wizarding World that you can't even imagine, and we are called the Returners."

"The Returners ..." Reinhardt pondered the meaning of the word, then continued, "What about Sin? Do gods truly exist in this world?"

"Well, of course. Do you think magic comes out of thin air? This magical power cannot evolve naturally in this barren world. It is a great power bestowed upon us by the God of Wizards. However, the Sin is not quite the same as the gods you imagine. They are not here to make this world a better place. Of course, neither are the Returnees." As he spoke, Leon Schneider revealed a wicked smile. "Of course, neither are the Returners."

What do you want to do?

"Oh, friend, your question is a bit too much. Take it easy, you'll understand everything when you join us."

Reinhardt frowned, looking somewhat dissatisfied, but he seemed to have already considered himself one of the Returners, speaking and acting from the other's perspective, "Are you so convinced that Wallerup will definitely spy on me and choose to seize that Memory Bottle?"

"No—" Leon Schneider smiled mysteriously, "But some people firmly believe that Wallerup will do it—provided, of course, that..."

His eyes narrowed into a dangerous arc. "You did exactly what I told you to do..."

Reinhardt showed no remorse. He chuckled and pointed to his head, "Your magic resides within my mind. Ha, to be honest, I tried it myself after I went back. No matter what I did, whether I reopened the Occlumency or something else, that magic clung to my brain like a leech. I have every reason to believe that if I betray you, this magic will—"

"Bang!" He made a gesture as if a firework had exploded.

Leon Schneider smiled again, "It's so convenient dealing with smart people."

"Let's hope so—" Reinhardt raised the corner of his mouth, "And then what?"

"When Wallerup gets his hands on that Memory Bottle and reads the memories, something magical will happen—" Leon Schneider said with an expectant look. "And at that point, all you need to do is simple: take this with you."

He handed Reinhardt the black crystal he had been playing with, and then gave him a tall crystal bottle, about the size of a small vase.

Reinhardt took the two items and frowned. "What are these?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Just keep holding this in your hand and keep it close to Wallerup— " Leon Schneider pointed to the black rhombus-shaped crystal, "And this crystal bottle..."

He gave a cruel smile, "I want you to fill it with Wallerup's blood."

Reinhardt's face darkened. "Don't talk nonsense. That guy isn't some ordinary underage wizard you can just pick up anywhere. Get close to him and kill him? Go ask Karkaroff if he has the ability to do that."

"So, what do you think was the purpose of everything I taught you? When Wallerup views the memories in that Memory Bottle, he will be briefly controlled, and under the spell we've laid, he will go alone to the Chamber of Secrets of Hogwarts —completely unprepared." Leon Schneider scoffed. "Besides, kill him? He's a precious being, how could I let you kill him? You only need to get his blood; that amount will only weaken him for a while, he won't die."

Reinhardt frowned; he had never heard of magic that could control others through memories.

Seeing his confusion, Leon Schneider chuckled, "There's too much magic you haven't seen. Like the magic I've placed in your mind, if it weren't for me, you would never have witnessed such great power—and do you really think you can kill him? Reinhardt, joining us Returners isn't as simple as running errands."

"According to reliable sources, Sean Wallerup possesses Magical Creatures capable of turning Hogwarts upside down. If he so desires, his little darlings alone could slaughter everyone on this ship, including me."

Upon hearing the other party's words, Reinhardt frowned even more deeply. Wasn't this sending him to his death?

"Ha, it seems you're really afraid of Mr. Wallop." Leon Schneider chuckled. "Don't worry, intelligence indicates that his Magical Creatures usually reside in his ring, an item enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charm. Given that guy's personality, he would definitely set a password spell on the ring's entrance and exit. And when he's under control, the ring naturally won't open. What you'll be facing is the Magical Creatures he always carries with him—a Swooping Evil."

"Swooping Evil?" Reinhardt repeated.

He knew a little about this Magical Creatures, but not much.

The Swooping Evil is a very rare creature whose favorite food is human brains. In many regions, there are legends of magnificent bats that would climb onto people's backs at night and bite open their skulls. According to research, those magnificent bats are the Swooping Evil.

This Magical Creatures is extremely dangerous, and people know very little about it, so even the Ministry of Magic has not assessed its level of danger.

As if guessing his thoughts, Leon Schneider said, "Don't even think about it. I can tell you definitively that the danger level of the Swooping Evil is at least xxxx, and it is most likely Magical Creatures of the xxxxx level. However, as Champion of Durmstrang who went to the Triwizard Cup, you can't be unable to handle even a Magical Creatures, can you?"

Reinhardt scoffed. "Easy for you to say—they almost stumbled when facing the two Fire Dragon in the first level. A head-on confrontation? No, they just used various techniques to dodge their attacks."

Although the Fire Dragon is among the top-tier Magical Creatures, and he had held back his strength during the competition, he had reason to believe that the Magical Creatures tamed by Wallerup were definitely not so easy to deal with.

However, compared to facing Wallerup directly...

Reinhardt finally nodded. "I understand."

"Very good, my friend." Leon Schneider smiled with satisfaction. "Now, we just wait for our dear Mr. Wallop to take the bait."

——

On his way back to the Slytherin Common Room, Theodore Nott carefully watched to make sure he wasn't being noticed, while trying to calm his excited heart.

The news Reinhardt brought was so explosive that he almost instantly saw his future of fame and fortune.

Being able to participate in such a world-changing project was something he had always longed for.

Thinking of this, he gripped the Memory Bottle in the bag tightly— Reinhardt said it contained memories that would allow him to understand everything further.

Theodore Nott breathed heavily with excitement. He remembered that his family treasured an heirloom Pensieve Pensieve, and he would write another letter to his father to have it sent over...

When he reached a deserted corner, he instinctively pressed himself to the side to avoid making too much noise with his footsteps.

Then he saw a pair of round, jet-black eyes.

Overwhelmed by drowsiness, Theodore Nott drifted off to sleep before he could even react. In the last second before losing consciousness, he instinctively clutched the Memory Bottle in his pocket and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Well done, Pudding." Sean praised the Wampus Cat who had hypnotized the other, then skillfully put Theodore Nott into the ring.

Yes, he still chose to start with Theodore Nott. On the one hand, he could use Legilimency to investigate some secrets about the Nott family, and on the other hand, he could get his hands on the Memory Bottle that Reinhardt had given him.

After searching for a while, he pried open Theodore Nott's fingers and took out the Memory Bottle.

"Something's strange..."

Sean frowned and muttered something. The silver flakes in the Memory Bottle in his hand floated aimlessly, but unlike other memories, the silver flakes seemed to be mixed with some pale yellow dust, as if they had been stored for a long time.

Having experienced another Chamber of Secrets of Secrets in Slytherin, Sean did not immediately examine his memories; his habitual caution led him to take out his wand and cast a spell.

However, after various testing spells, the Memory Bottle in front of him seemed to have no problems. Sean even checked the stopper but found no evil curses or Dark Arts hidden on it.

"Tsk..."

Still feeling uneasy, Sean hesitated for a moment before taking out the coin that only had one last use left.

Unstable Coin (Purple): A Divination tool. State your question and toss the coin. Heads represent affirmation, tails represent negation. 1/5 of the uses remain. (Note: The coin's orientation is affected by weather, mood, and luck; it often lands upright. Moderate Divination is beneficial, but superstitious Prophecy are harmful to health.)

The Divination coin produced by the system has only one use left. It's actually quite useful for Divination, but it's a pain once it's upright.

"Give me some face, don't stick it on the ground..." Sean raised the coin and bowed.

"I am using the Pensieve, which I took from another Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, to read the memories in the Memory Bottle in my hand, and there will be no danger."

After describing as accurately as possible what he needed to Divination, Sean tossed it into the air.

The coin spun around and fell to the ground.

Sean's eyes lit up. "Front view!"

The Unstable Coin, having perfectly completed its final mission, trembled twice and then vanished from its spot.

"My dear, rest in peace," Sean said wistfully.

Without further hesitation, he took out the Pensieve.

As he uncorked the bottle, a rotten smell filled Sean's nostrils.

He frowned. This wasn't the smell a normal Memory Bottle should have. No, to be precise, normal memories shouldn't have any smell at all.

However, since the Divination tools produced by the system have all expressed their approval, there is at least no need to worry about any dangerous situations arising.

Sean placed the silver fluff mixed with pale yellow dust into the Pensieve, took out his wand, stirred it, took a deep breath, and plunged directly into the Pensieve.

His feet flew off the ground, and he continued to fall into the darkness.

However, Sean, who was used to this feeling, felt no discomfort and soon he was firmly on the ground.

"Here it is..."

He looked around and found himself on a road made of wood-colored marble slabs.

The surrounding area features distinctive Ancient Greek temple-like buildings.

"Could this be the territory of the Returners?" Sean suddenly thought of a possibility.

The Returners are closely associated with Ancient Greek, and the architectural style here clearly belongs to the Aegean Civilization.

He looked around and saw a figure wearing Black Hood emerge from the shadow of the building in front of him.

"The Returners ..." Sean's gaze sharpened.

It seems he has entered the memories of a Returners.

There were no other pedestrians on the wide stone path, and after the Returners emerged from the shadows, he walked straight toward a small temple ahead.

Sean walked up to the person and took a look, then was surprised to find that the person was actually an "old acquaintance" he had met before.

The figure printed on the Chocolate Frog Card is the legendary Ancient Greek figure, Andros, who is said to have been Patronus by Giant.

Andros looked unwell, with a scorched yellow mark on his robe, suggesting he had just been in a fight.

Sean's expression was slightly strange. Could this memory be the one that Andros had after meeting with Grindelwald, who was disguised as him?

At that time, Andros was talking to Sean, who was disguised as Grindelwald, when Sean overturned the table. Unfortunately, Sean was unable to stop him.

Sean remembered that his spell only struck Andros's robe, and it seemed to be the one right in front of him...

Andros continued walking forward, with Sean following. Soon, they arrived at the small temple.

The small temple was not open as Sean had imagined; the doors were shrouded in black mist, like a passageway to hell.

Andros did something, and the shrouding fog parted to both sides, revealing a dark entrance.