Bug Extermination Operation

Harry was panting, the ruby at the end of his wand still gleaming with a scarlet light.

He surveyed the underground sanctuary, which had been swept by a brief but not particularly intense battle. The dark red Magic Array had been completely extinguished, leaving only charred marks, and a faint stench permeated the air.

The subdued Death Eater lay unconscious on the ground, their bodies scattered about, a stark contrast to the few lifeless corpses that stood out starkly.

The imprisoned wizards remain unconscious or bound, awaiting their release.

Veratia had already shed her fierce fighting spirit. She quickly walked to the core of the formation, squatted down, and used the tip of her wand to examine the complex Runes and residual energy.

Her brow was furrowed; she had clearly discovered something.

"Antonidas, have your men check the condition of all prisoners immediately. Prioritize treating the seriously wounded and make sure they haven't been cursed with tracking or self-destruction." She ordered without turning her head. "The rest of you, thoroughly search this space. Don't overlook any paper, any magical items, or even the markings on the walls. Focus on finding communication records, personnel lists, inventory lists, and any information pointing to other locations."

"Yes, President." The Auror immediately sprang into action, their well-trained manner allowing them to split up and carry out their tasks.

Harry walked over to Veratia, his gaze also falling on the dim array. "What did you find?"

"Not just the training grounds and labs," Veratia said softly, her fingertips tracing several complex Runes nodes. "This part of the structure is the anchor point, the receiver and transmitter of a large, reusable, stable Portkey system. It looks like it's been frequently activated recently."

At this point, she pointed to several grooves on the edge of the array. "The residual energy indicates that there is more than one coordinate on the other side, but they all point to the depths of the Andes Mountains further south. The direction with the strongest energy signature is roughly in the border area between Argentina and Chile."

She stood up, her gaze resolute. "This is a crucial hub and springboard. We've destroyed a nest, but it's likely just a node in the network. Voldemort himself isn't here, nor is the core."

At that moment, a Germany Auror looked up from a pile of scattered Parchment and waved what he had found in his hand. "Ms. Grindelwald! Found some fragments of encrypted communications, and half a map!"

Veratia and Harry immediately went over and looked down to examine it. The edges of the Parchment were charred, as if it hadn't been completely destroyed in the rush.

The text above is encrypted with multiple layers of magic, but at a glance, some frequently appearing codes and location abbreviations can still be vaguely discerned.

The half-map depicts the magical veins of parts of South America. One area, repeatedly circled in dark red ink, is located in western Argentina, near the Aconcagua Mountain, and is marked with a blurry symbol that looks like a Holy Grail wrapped in thorns.

It doesn't look like anything good.

"The Holy Grail? Or some kind of vessel?" Harry stared at the symbol.

"It might be a marker for an Ancient Magic ruin, or a code name they gave to some important location." Veratia carefully put away the map fragments. "These all need to be taken back to the decryption department for them to decipher, but at least we have a clearer direction now."

The rescue and initial treatment of the imprisoned wizards are underway, and the search continues.

In addition to more fragmented experimental records and Dark Arts materials, they also discovered the remnants of a small monitoring array connected to the main array, whose core crystal had been shattered.

"They may have seen part of the battle through this, or at least received an alarm the moment the stronghold was breached," Antonidas analyzed.

Veratia nodded, her expression unsurprised. "As expected. An operation can't be completely without a trace. The important thing is what we gained and what they lost."

"These people, especially those who look like minor leaders, are valuable intelligence sources. Prepare the highest level of escort and quarantine, sending them directly to the International Confederation of Wizards's top-security prison in the neutral zone, where they will be interrogated by interrogators directly under the Confederation's jurisdiction." Veratia paused for a moment, then coldly ordered, "I need to know everything they know—about this network, about the other outposts, about this Miss Merope they've mentioned."

"Yes!"

As the squad quietly withdrew with the prisoners, the rescued wizard, and the loot, the eastern sky was already beginning to lighten.

In fact, the entire raid didn't last long; under Harry's violent magic, there was almost no resistance.

The real time-consuming part is the search operation.

On the way back, Harry sat next to Veratia, still thinking about what had just happened.

Meanwhile, deep within a manor in Buenos Aires.

Voldemort, or rather Miss Merope, was looking at the last image transmitted through a magic mirror that floated in mid-air with silver mist flowing around its edges.

The interplay of silver and green light, the familiar green eyes, and the blonde witch's swift and fierce movements.

The image in the mirror flickered a few times before fading into darkness.

Her crimson eyes held no emotion, as if she were watching a trivial scene from a play, her slender, pale fingers gently tapping the black panther skin spread on her lap.

"Quickly, Potter," she murmured, her voice echoing in the spacious, opulent room, "my old friend, still such an eyesore—"

A well-dressed, pale-faced sorcerer, resembling a vampire, stood respectfully below, head bowed. "Master, the node at Colombia has been destroyed. We have lost twelve warriors, and Raven may have been captured."

"Raven" was the code name of the person in charge of that outpost.

"Insignificant," Miss Merope waved her hand. "It's just a node; once it's destroyed, it's destroyed. Raven doesn't know much; it'll keep them busy for a while, but they won't get to the core. What they did take, however—"

A faint red light flickered in her eyes, revealing the turmoil in her emotions.

"That half-map and the communication fragment will lead them to the Thorned Holy Grail —excellent."

The wizard was somewhat puzzled. "Master, that's something important to us—"

"An important decoy," Miss Merope interrupted him, "A suspected key that seems important enough to warrant their elite investigation. But what I want, of course, is hidden in a more unexpected place."

Let them focus their attention on the Andes; our next focus should be on Europe and North America.

She stood up, her velvet dress cascading down like a waterfall.

"Let us inform our friends in Europe, especially those families who are dissatisfied with the status quo and yearn for the old order, that the taste of Frosted Apple has been shown, and now it's time to give them a taste of sweetness."

Miss Merope paused for a moment, then continued, "Begin making contacts in my name, offering them help they can't refuse—whether it's Potions to prolong their lives, a secret technique to enhance their strength, or a solution to their thorny problems. Remember, be elegant, be generous, and make it appear perfectly legal and mutually beneficial."

"Yes, Master." The wizard bowed deeply.

Voldemort walked to the window, gazing at the gradually brightening sky outside the manor; no one knew what she was thinking.

"Potter, Grindelwald —enjoy this little victory. The real war is never on the front lines."

She spoke softly, as if in a lover's murmur, yet it carried a chill that seeped into her very bones.

"The real war is fought in the cracks of human greed, in the web of intertwined interests. When I gently wrap you in a net woven of gold and honey—I hope you can still laugh."

Grimmauld Place, Number 13, early morning.

When Harry and Veratia returned home through the secret passage, Cassandra was sitting in front of the fireplace in the Living Room.

She wasn't asleep; she held a book in her hand, but clearly hadn't read more than a few pages. The firelight illuminated her pale blonde hair and somewhat pale cheeks.

Hearing the noise, she immediately looked up, her eyes quickly scanning the two of them. After confirming that they were unharmed, her shoulders, which had been tense due to nervousness, relaxed slightly.

"Is it over?" Her voice was a little hoarse.

"Hmm." Harry went over and gave her a gentle hug. "What could have happened to us? The outpost was taken down, some people were rescued, and we got some clues."

Veratia removed her travel cloak, revealing a bright smile, and handed the Silver Compass back to Cassandra.

Your little gadget was a huge help, Cass, thank you.

Cassandra took the compass, her fingertips brushing against the cool gemstone. She nodded without saying anything, but her eyes softened.

She looked at Harry: "Any discoveries?"

Harry and Veratia briefly explained the situation to her, mentioning the two-way Portkey, half a map, the symbol of the Thorned Holy Grail, and their concerns about Voldemort's possible infiltration of Europe.

Cassandra listened quietly, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the compass.

"Regarding Old Nott, Lucius got a vague response through indirect inquiries. He seemed quite curious about the powerful, tradition-respecting force in South America, and his words hinted that if the conditions were right, he wouldn't rule out establishing beneficial relations. It seems someone has already sensed this."

At this point, she let out a cold laugh.

"We need to be faster." Veratia rubbed her temples. "The International Confederation of Wizards's operations must be accelerated. Meanwhile, Hermione can begin closely monitoring the flow of funds and personnel within the Ministry of Magic and in international collaborations related to emerging South America companies or unusually lucrative contracts. We also need to continue following up on the leads with Bill and Professor Lupin."

After a brief exchange, Veratia didn't even rest; she simply changed her clothes and then traveled directly to the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards in Geneva via the Floo Network.

She needs to be personally in charge, using her authority as president to accelerate the operation of that massive international machine that is often mired in bureaucratic quagmire.

Three days later.

Under Veratia's almost tireless efforts and the bloody pressure from the Frosted Apple Incident, the Security Council finally passed a resolution, and the transnational joint operation codenamed "Purification" was officially launched.

A special task force composed of elite Auror, Curses Specialist, and intelligence analysts from multiple countries was formed, with Veratia serving as the commander-in-chief.

The objectives of the first phase of the operation were clear: based on intelligence obtained from the Colombia outpost, to focus on reconnaissance of the Andes Mountains region along the Argentina - Chile border, especially the location of the Thorned Holy Grail symbol; and simultaneously, to monitor and intercept the flow of illicit funds and materials suspected of being linked to Voldemort and the South America Dark Wizard Gang network.

In her view, now that Voldemort's location had been pinpointed, it was time to strike him decisively.

This can no longer be tolerated! We must take decisive action!

The operation to eliminate the Dark Wizard and exorcise the demons (Voldemort) has officially begun!

Week 1, the border area between Peru and Bolivia.

A joint team, acting on a tip from Bill, raided a transshipment point deep within an abandoned tin mine.

The place was piled high with crates destined for the north, but inside were smuggled cursed items and Dark Arts materials, and even a few young Niffler bound by magic.

The wizards guarding the goods were mostly local gang members, offering little resistance. However, warehouse records showed that the final recipient of the goods was a shell company registered in Switzerland, making further investigation extremely difficult.

However, this operation severed a vital supply line for the enemy.

Week 2, a magical town on the Chile coast.

Hermione, through analyzing the Ministry of Magic's import and export records, discovered that a newly registered company had supplied large quantities of rare and strictly regulated South America magical plant roots to several long-established Europe Potions workshops over the past three months at prices far below market value.

The joint operation's economic crime investigation team intervened, joining forces with local magic law enforcement agencies to raid the company on suspicion of smuggling and violating the International Convention for the Protection of Magical Plants.

Although the company's legal documents were nearly perfect and the person in charge had long since disappeared, the search revealed encrypted communication records that, when deciphered, pointed to a Wine Estate in Mendoza Province, Argentina —a property of an Ancient Magic family whose patriarch had recently been in close contact with Old Nott.

In the third week, a highly respected Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Paraguay, who had secretly provided the joint task force with suspected money laundering leads, was found dead in his heavily guarded vault.

His death was extremely bizarre—his entire body was encased in a layer of amber-like substance, his expression frozen in extreme shock and pain, with several antique-style Galleon scattered around him, inscribed with the words "A silent ally yearning for true order."

There were no Dark Mark on the scene, but the magic that could instantly imprison life was chilling.

This incident indeed caused shock and division within the International Confederation of Wizards. Some representatives questioned whether the intensity of the "Purification" operation led to unnecessary escalation of confrontation and collateral damage; others believed that this was proof of the counterattack of dark forces and that it must be dealt with more resolutely.

At the meeting, Veratia emphasized that this precisely demonstrated the ruthlessness of her opponents and their fear of investigation; under her iron fist, all dissenting voices were suppressed.

Following this, Veratia began a purge within the organization.

First, she targeted the doves within the organization who thought the actions were too drastic.