Chapter 641

The carriage rose into the night sky from the dense woods on the shore of Lake Michigan, and Hagrid adjusted its direction, flying due west.

The Thestrals' wings beat soundlessly in the moonlight, and the storm lantern swayed gently from the carriage roof beam.

Inside the carriage, Graves was fixed to the innermost seat by a Binding Charm, his eyes closed, his dark gray hair scattered across his face.

Kingsley sat opposite him, wand in hand, his gaze never leaving the prisoner.

Cassandra and Nasser sat side by side, the Analyzer and the compass resting on their knees, the waveforms on the screens pulsing steadily.

Vivi leaned against Harry's shoulder, holding the Basalt Compass in her hand.

The compass needle pointed due west—the direction of the Klamath Mountains.

Her breathing was even, her silver-white hair spilling over Harry's shoulder.

Harry did not sleep. He looked out the window at the surface of Lake Michigan gradually receding behind them, platinum magic quietly gathering and releasing at his fingertips.

Kingsley lowered his voice and said, "Hermione sent a message just now. When the Confederation Technical Group was analyzing the Data Storage Device seized from the bottom of Lake Michigan, they found a communication record between Graves and Runcorn. Runcorn said he was protecting that thing."

Harry frowned and lowered his head to glance at the sleeping Vivi. She did not wake.

"That thing? Besides Cohen's patch and that person's original Runes, what else was in Node Seven?"

Kingsley turned the screen of the Encrypted Communicator toward Harry.

On the screen was a three-dimensional scan of the Node Seven cavern, with the data Cassandra and Anne had recorded during their previous surveys overlaid together.

The circular depression, the stalactites, the ground Runes—all known structures were on the image, but on the lowest layer