Special Operation
Theodore was silent for a moment, then he slowly took a Notebook out of the inner pocket of his robe and placed it on the coffee table.
"These are some things I've been secretly recording for the past six months, including the people my father met, the vague things they talked about, some unusual fund transfer records, and a catalog of several books in my father's study that he's been frequently looking at lately."
He pushed the Notebook aside. "This is my initial expression of sincerity."
Hermione immediately picked up the Notebook, but instead of opening it right away, she carefully examined the magical seals on it.
Theodore stood up. "I should go back now. There are still many things to take care of at home. If you need anything, you can contact me through Draco. But please try to remain discreet."
"Of course." Harry stood up as well. "Take care, Nott. Remember, you're not alone anymore."
Theodore nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave with Draco.
After the door closed, the Living Room was quiet for a while.
"He's calmer and more pragmatic than I imagined," Hermione commented, still holding the Notebook. "Looks like you were right, Cassandra —he is indeed a smart and cooperative person."
"That's what a proper family leader should be like," Cassandra said. "Emotional decisions don't last long in that environment. He understands his situation and knows how to negotiate. As long as we continue to outmaneuver Voldemort, he'll be a useful ally."
"Is this thing he gave me reliable?" Ron leaned closer to look at the Notebook.
"It needs verification, but it's very valuable," Harry said. "At least we've obtained some intelligence. Next, we'll see how Veratia's reconnaissance cross-references our intelligence."
Hermione gently ran the tip of her wand across the surface of the Notebook and whispered a few Detection Charm.
The silver snake on the Notebook cover twitched slightly, the latch clicked softly, and then slowly popped open. It didn't trigger any malicious magical traps; there was only a faint remnant of a security spell. It seemed that Theodore had removed most of the protection before handing it over.
"Very cautious, but no tricks," Hermione said, putting on the prepared Dragonhide Gloves and gently opening the Notebook.
It is Theodore's handwriting; the strokes are clear and easy to read, and there are simple symbols in some places.
It's much better than Harry's scribbles.
The people in the Living Room immediately gathered around, Ron waved his hand, bringing over more candles in an attempt to make the light brighter.
Cassandra pulled up an armchair and sat down, gesturing for Hermione to summarize the basic contents of the notebook.
The Notebook contains more details Theodore's verbal description. The first half is mainly a record of people, using a lot of abbreviations and code names, but combined with the context and Hermione's memories, several key characters can be identified.
Old Nott's meetings with these people increased significantly in the last three months, and the locations varied, sometimes in a side room of the Nott Manor, sometimes in a private room at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley, and on one occasion, the record shows it took place in the basement of the Borgin - Borgin General Store in Knockturn Alley.
The content of the meeting was mostly vague; Theodore could only catch snippets of conversation, but piecing them together, he could discern a general direction.
In his conversations with these people, Old Nott frequently mentioned Safe Passage, quality checks, and payment methods. He mentioned several times that his friends in the America were dissatisfied with the delivery delays, and that Old Nott would smooth things over.
There is also a hastily written record stating that one of the people mentioned that the basic materials for the Holy Grail Project were being collected smoothly, but the Core Resonator required some special medium, which might be found in Scandinavia.
Harry frowned. "It sounds like a key component of some kind of large-scale Dark Arts ritual."
Cassandra pondered for a moment, then said, "Voldemort is collecting these things, and combined with the needs Bill mentioned earlier, he's preparing a ritual of astonishing scale."
The middle section of the Notebook contained numbers and brief notes, resembling a financial statement. There were several large outflows, but the inflows were relatively scattered, mostly from a few unfamiliar small Europe companies.
Hermione immediately recognized two of the companies on the Ministry of Magic's recent list of unusual trade activities, suggesting they had rather complicated backgrounds.
"He's laundering money and funding Voldemort's network at the same time," Hermione said, pointing to the records. "These companies that received the funds are very likely among Voldemort's shell companies in Europe. Theodore's access to these suggests that Old Nott, to some extent, entrusted him with handling some family finances, perhaps to groom an heir, or perhaps because he thought his son was smart enough not to talk nonsense, which gave Theodore the opportunity to spy."
The latter half, a catalog and summary of the books, is even more chilling. Theodore lists seven forbidden books hidden deep within the Nott Family Library, all concerning soul magic and ancient sacrificial rituals.
"The power of immortality... a vessel for the soul... fuel..." Harry muttered these words, feeling the same familiar scent. "He hasn't given up on immortality, or rather, he craves even greater power. But this time the method sounds grander, and more evil— the Holy Grail might be the central location or symbol of this ritual."
"Using the powerful natural magical energy channels of the South America mountains, along with the various dangerous materials and soul magic he has collected—" Cassandra's fingers tapped the armrest of her chair, "If he succeeds, the consequences will be unimaginable."
That might no longer be an easily defeated wizard, but a monster combined with deeper levels of evil magic, or an embodiment of some dark force.
The Living Room fell silent, save for the crackling of the fireplace.
The fragments of information in the Notebook gradually pieced together a chilling picture: Voldemort was not only integrating gangs and building networks in South America, but also plotting an unprecedented dark ritual in an attempt to gain power beyond anything he had ever done before.
"We must stop him." Hermione's voice held an unprecedented firmness. "By any means necessary."
"Veratia's squad has already set off." Harry glanced at the magic clock on the fireplace, which displayed the time in different time zones. "They should be infiltrating the Andes Mountains by now. We need to get this information to her as soon as possible, especially regarding the specific conditions the ritual might require and these newly acquired clues."
"I'll organize the encrypted information," Hermione said, taking out her Notebook and Quill. "Cassandra, could you help me confirm the more specific dates and possible versions of these forbidden books? Perhaps we can find more weaknesses in the ritual."
Cassandra nodded. "I recall the Nott family's catalogue; these are all unique or rare copies. I can contact Lucius to see if the Malfoy family or other families have any related records, especially regarding countermeasures to the ritual or other requirements."
"Ron," Harry turned to his good friend, "We need to make sure Theodore is safe, and at the same time see if we can get in touch with those people through him, even if it's just from a distance— Draco might need to get involved."
"No problem, Harry." Ron rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I'm good at surveillance and gathering information, and George and Fred might have some gadgets that come in handy."
Once the target was identified, everyone quickly got to work.
A day later, Veratia sent word: the team that went to explore the Andes Mountains was ambushed, one wizard was seriously injured, and they had been evacuated to a safe point.
The news made the atmosphere even more tense. The investigation had been thwarted, and personnel had been lost. Veratia was under even more pressure at the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
"A trap—" Harry murmured, "Voldemort knew we were coming; he prepared a welcoming ceremony."
Theodore's Notebook mention that Voldemort's evil rituals require powerful souls—could the souls of Auror also be among his targets?
This speculation is chilling.
"We must act quickly." Cassandra stood up. "Theodore line is now of paramount importance."
His father fell from power, and he himself has just made contact with us. Voldemort's side may try to re-establish contact with or control him, or they may eliminate him as a traitor. We need to provide him with stronger protection while extracting more information from him.
"It's far too dangerous for Theodore to make contact with those people," Hermione objected. "He's only just gotten his footing."
"It doesn't necessarily require him to take the risk himself," Harry pondered. "But perhaps we can exploit his current eagerness to distance himself and reorganize the family, to make him inadvertently leak some false information we want to convey, or set a trap. For example, revealing that the Nott Family still possesses a secret artifact that his father didn't have time to hand over, and now, due to the family's turmoil, he doesn't know what to do with it—"
"Lure them out?" Ron's eyes lit up. "Let Voldemort's men come to him, and then we—"
"Not entirely." Harry shook his head. "The target is the person leading the way for him. We need to capture a middleman of sufficient weight to trace the connections and learn more about the Europe network and the ritual preparations. At the same time, this is also a test of Theodore's loyalty and competence."
The plan was thus finalized, and Harry, through Draco as an intermediary, passed on the new instructions and a carefully crafted bait message to Theodore.
Information suggests that a precise map of Scandinavian Peninsula and instructions for opening them might be hidden in one of Old Nott's secret vaults, undiscovered by the Ministry of Magic. This was Old Nott's backup plan, but Theodore has not yet found the exact location, only clues.
He was troubled by this, wanting to break free from his father's dark legacy, yet fearing it might fall into the wrong hands or bring disaster. So he confided his worries to his trusted old classmate Malfoy.
Meanwhile, Cassandra, through the Malfoy family's connections, began to quietly spread rumors in Europe Pure-blood circles that the Nott family boy had discovered something incredible while cleaning up his father's mess and was terrified, while also closely monitoring who was particularly interested in this news.
The wait was agonizing. Several days passed, and there was no unusual contact with Theodore. The rumors seemed to have vanished without a trace.
The pressure within the International Confederation of Wizards is mounting. Doves and some centrists, citing the losses of the Auror Squad, are again questioning the radicalism of the Purification operation and Veratia's autocratic decisions, demanding a reassessment of the strategy. Some have even raised questions about Veratia's leadership abilities.
Just as Harry was considering whether to adjust his strategy, Theodore sent a encrypted message through Draco.
Someone contacted him, not one of the known informants, but a stranger who claimed to be an antique appraiser. He was very interested in certain special historical documents that the Nott Family might possess, was willing to pay a high price for them, and implied that he could help handle any thorny inheritance.
The meeting was scheduled for three days later at a secluded café in a Muggle -wizard neighborhood in Paris.
"The fish's taken." Harry's eyes lit up as he read the message. "But it might just be a small fry. We need to catch him, pry him open, and find out who's behind him!"
The operation was swiftly deployed, but due to its transnational nature, it required authorization and coordination from the International Confederation of Wizards. Veratia withstood the pressure and, with her authority as president, approved a limited cross-border law enforcement collaboration, a joint operation between the Britain Auror Office and relevant departments of the French Ministry of Magic. Harry and Cassandra participated as advisors, while Hermione and Ron were responsible for logistical support and intelligence coordination.
To avoid alerting the enemy, all personnel were in plain clothes and entered Paris using non-magical transportation.
Meanwhile, in a café in Paris.
Theodore sat by the window, a Quirrell untouched in front of him. His face was still pale, but his eyes were calm. He was dressed in a well-fitting Muggle suit and looked like a preoccupied young college student.
Draco sat at another table not far away, pretending to read a newspaper.
A few minutes after the appointed time, a middle-aged man wearing a gray trench coat, glasses, and carrying an old briefcase walked in.
He glanced around the coffee shop, then walked straight toward Theodore.
"Mr. Nott? I'm Bernard." The man sat down opposite Theodore, his expression composed.
Theodore whispered, "I—I'm not sure. That Sickle be dangerous, my father—"
"That's precisely why you need professionals to handle this." Bernard leaned forward, lowering his voice even further. "My employer has extensive knowledge of the history of these kinds of dangers and can provide absolute safety and generous compensation to get you completely rid of it."
Just as Bernard took out what appeared to be an ordinary purchase agreement from his briefcase, the café door was pushed open again.
A few people who looked like ordinary tourists came in, but their scattered positions conveniently blocked all the exits.
Bernard instantly sensed something was wrong. He jumped up and reached for his chest, but faster than him was the France Auror disguised as a waiter, who struck him precisely with a silent Binding Charm.
Almost simultaneously, the café's windows and doors were magically reinforced from the outside, and Muggle Repelling Charm was cast, isolating the interior from the outside world.
"Action!" Kingsley's voice rang out.