The Flint Family

Sagreles calmly watched him do all this. Only after Barnabas gave up struggling did he slowly speak. "As a wizard, you actually waited until the very end to think of picking up your wand to face me..."

Sagreles shook his head. "Honestly, I'm very disappointed."

"Y-you can't do this..." Barnabas Guffe stammered. "The moment you do anything to hurt me, the Ministry of Magic will send you back to Azkaban. And this time, not even Dumbledore can save you."

"Hurt you? Of course I won't hurt you..." Sagreles said in surprise. "I'm simply rather dissatisfied with your evaluation of me and my teaching methods..."

He reached into the flames and took out a fresh proof sheet that was still burning. With a casual shake, the flames immediately went out, and the half-burned newspaper was restored to its original state.

"For example, this passage..." He pointed to an article in the newspaper. "<Shocking Teaching Methods, Dangerous Individual May Force Hogwarts to Close>. I don't like this headline very much. How about changing it?"

The letters on the newspaper fell away at once, rearranging themselves on the parchment into new words: <Daily Prophet Editor Dies Mysteriously, May Have Suffered Horrific Torture Before Death>.

Barnabas Guffe's face went deathly pale. Cold sweat trickled down from his temples, and he could not utter a word.

Sagreles glanced at him and raised a brow. "It seems Mr. Guffe doesn't like it very much."

"In that case, let's discuss a headline that satisfies everyone."

He placed the newspaper on the desk, and the letters rearranged themselves again. <Hogwarts Pioneers Practical Spell Courses, Risks Controllable, Results Remarkable...>

Barnabas Guffe froze for a moment, then nodded frantically in agreement.

Sagreles smiled and nodded as well. "Very good. It seems Mr. Guffe is quite satisfied too."

He leaned back in his chair, watching the other man struggle to force a smile onto his face, and continued with a smile. "Then next, I hope Mr. Guffe can tell me one thing..."

Barnabas Guffe's ingratiating expression froze on his face, while Sagreles's smile gradually faded.

"Who exactly told you to do this?"

Legilimency activated instantly, effortlessly breaking through the man's pathetic Occlumency.

"Carbot Flint!" Sagreles immediately got the answer he wanted.

But just to be safe, he continued using three variant spells of Memory Erasure on him—Memory Replay, Obliviate, and Memory Weaving.

First, he used Memory Replay to obtain the details of the meeting between the man and Carbot Flint. Then he used Memory Weaving to create a false memory, and finally used Obliviate to erase all memories of tonight's meeting.

After finishing all that, he used Apparition to leave the Daily Prophet editorial office.

The moment Sagreles appeared within the Flint family estate, Gargo Scarfella in the cellar immediately opened his eyes.

The tall figure raised his head and sniffed. Then his orange-yellow pupils suddenly contracted, like a beast locking onto its prey.

"Hunters of the Blood Moon Alliance..." Gargo's cruel, icy voice rang out in the darkness, and seven or eight more pairs of coldly gleaming eyes immediately appeared in the cellar.

"The prey has delivered itself to our door!"

A grayish-white, three-story Baroque building lay crouched deep within a dead beech forest, its faded silver-green crest floating above the wrought-iron gates.

This was not Sagreles's first time here.

Two years ago, he had come here while pursuing an official wanted by the Ministry of Magic. He still remembered that man's name—Leonard Flint.

With no intention of knocking, Sagreles raised his hand and fired a Blasting Curse. A huge hole was immediately blasted through the heavy iron gates, and all protective magic proved useless before the immense power of Frenzied Explosion.

An elderly house-elf poked his head out through the breach in the iron gates. The moment he saw Sagreles, his face twisted, and he leaped out through the hole.

"What have you done? You filthy bastard..." He pointed at Sagreles and cursed furiously. "You dare destroy the ancient structures of the Flint family? Aren't you afraid of the wrath of the noble Lord Flint?"

The elderly house-elf snapped his fingers furiously. The iron gates opened, and two orderly ranks of alchemical golems emerged, armed and clad in steel armor.

Sagreles did not even spare him a glance. He directly fired a Cutting Curse at the house-elf.

Just as the spell was about to strike the house-elf's neck, a round shield appeared before him and blocked the rapidly approaching spell-light.

"Koshian, get out of the way..." Without turning his head, Carbot ordered the house-elf to leave. Then he waved his wand at the dark corridor, and more steel puppets filed out.

"Who did I think it was? Isn't this the dangerous individual repeatedly denounced by the Daily Prophet?" Carbot sneered. "What, did you bring your filthy Mudblood bloodline here to beg forgiveness from an ancient family?"

"Forgiveness is Merlin's business." Sagreles toyed with the wand in his hand and said calmly, "I can send you to see him."

The smile vanished from Carbot's face. Electricity flickered at the tip of his wand. Suppressing his urge to attack, he continued, "Two years ago, you killed my brother. You practically destroyed all of the Flint family's foundations within the Ministry of Magic..."

"You mean the madman who wanted to use his wife's brains to mend the family tree because she gave birth to a Squib?" Sagreles smiled indifferently. "I suppose the Flint family tapestry must be nearly eaten hollow by its Squib branches by now!"

"Sagreles!" Carbot rose in fury. "The ancient bloodline of the Flint family has crushed countless powerful enemies, while you are not even qualified to be a watchdog in my family graveyard!"

"As stupid as ever..."

Sagreles paid no mind to the insult. With a wave of his hand, he cleared away the poisonous thorn-vines sprouting from the ground, then drew his wand and walked toward Carbot.

"Filthy bastard, I have to say, you're quite bold..." Carbot's tone was strange, his suppressed fury mixed with mockery. "Do you think you'll walk out of the Flint family estate alive today?"

Sagreles could not help letting out a soft laugh. "You?"

The moment he finished speaking, a cone-shaped spike of light shot toward Carbot.

"Protego!" Carbot hurriedly used a Shield Charm to defend himself, but the tremendous impact sent him flying. He only stopped after crashing into the wall.

"Awooo~"

A piercing wolf howl came from nearby. Looking at the Werewolves charging toward him from afar, a strange smile appeared on Sagreles's face.

"So that's why you had the nerve to make trouble for me. You've got these wolf cubs backing you up..." He walked forward calmly, his Everlasting Flowerwood Wand lightly pointing at Carbot, who had fallen into the corner. "Do you know the saying, 'letting wolves into the house'?"

Carbot, lying on the ground, did not answer. The violent impact had shattered all his ribs, yet he still endured the pain and swung his wand to cast a spell.

"Undead Revival!" Carbot waved his wand with a vicious expression. Beneath the dead tree at the center of the back garden, the corpses of Squibs executed and buried by generations of family heads immediately burst from the earth.

"Heh." Sagreles waved his wand disdainfully. "Iron Armor Torrent!"

The steel puppets before him, weapons already raised, instantly melted into scorching molten iron and surged toward the undead creatures crawling from underground.

"You should thank me," Sagreles said as he walked. "If I hadn't killed Leonard, how could it possibly have been your turn to become head of the Flint family?"

"Shut up..." Carbot continued waving his wand furiously, and a green light shot toward Sagreles.

Sagreles casually flicked his wand. A stone wall immediately rose from the ground, blocking the charging Werewolves as well as Carbot's Killing Curse.

"Tomorrow morning's Daily Prophet headline may have to change..." His footsteps remained unhurried, and the stone wall between them slowly dissolved as he approached.

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At last, Sagreles came before him and looked down at him. "<Flint Family Attacked by Werewolves, Family Head Carbot Flint Tragically Killed>. What do you think of this headline?"

The steel puppets and alchemical golems behind him had all been melted into molten iron by Iron Armor Torrent, while the undead that had risen from the earth had been burned into ash. Looking at Carbot's terrified face, Sagreles nodded calmly. "It seems you don't like it very much..."

"But that's fine. As long as I like it!"

He raised his hand and swung his wand. A Cutting Curse shot rapidly toward the dark corridor. The house-elf attempting a sneak attack hurriedly used a Shield Charm to block it, but the scarlet spell-light instantly melted upon touching the round Shield Charm.

The elderly elf immediately fell into confusion at the sight. Then his Shield Charm transformed into countless dense red spell-blades that shot like lightning toward himself behind the shield.

"Crash!"

The house-elf named Koshian was sliced into pieces and scattered across the ground.

The last trace of hope vanished from Carbot's eyes. He slumped helplessly on the ground, his venomous gaze fixed on Sagreles.

Sagreles met his eyes calmly and said without emotion, "I'm guessing that within three seconds, you'll beg me to kill you..."

"I will never submit to you..."

"Flesh Stripping!"

"Aah~"

Sagreles coldly withdrew his wand. "Looks like I overestimated you. You're such trash that you can't even beg for mercy."

With a wave of his hand, he removed the stone wall surrounding the Werewolves. A pack of Werewolves leaped down from the Flint estate's cast-iron walkway and pounced at him again.

A Levitation Charm hurled the half-dead Carbot toward the charging Werewolves. The tall Werewolf at the front swung his claws fiercely at the incoming "obstacle," instantly tearing Carbot in half.

Sagreles raised a brow and calmly cast a spell at the several Werewolves pouncing toward him. "Reveal True Form!"

A powerful magical wave swept past in an instant. The charging Werewolves immediately reverted to human form and crashed heavily to the ground.

"So they're all notorious wanted criminals..." Sagreles scanned them and found that he actually knew several of them.

The somewhat panicked pack quickly regained its composure, transforming into Werewolves once more amid a series of howls.

Corrosive saliva dripped from Scarfella's fangs as he charged at the front, only to slam into a transparent barrier three feet from Sagreles—not a Shield Charm, but a Mirror Impact.

The tall Werewolf was instantly blasted away. Sagreles even calmly stated his identity. "Gargo Scarfella, former interrogator of the Ministry of Magic's Dangerous Creatures Division. He fled after being discovered conducting Dark magic experiments on Werewolf prisoners, and is now the tactical commander of the Blood Moon Alliance."

Looking at the man's huge figure, he could not help shaking his head. "One look tells me you're a brainless idiot. Is the position of tactical commander really not some kind of joke?"

Gargo was enraged by his words. After landing, he howled and charged at him at an even faster speed.

"Seeking your own death!"

Sagreles said coldly. A Flying Sand and Rolling Stones sent him flying once more, followed by an Earthbind that created a field of rock spikes where he landed.

This time, Gargo was skewered like a hedgehog by the rock spikes and never rose again.

At the same time, Sagreles sidestepped three blasts of corrosive poisonous sludge, then swung his wand with incredible speed. "Return to Sender!"

The poisonous sludge immediately flew back in the direction it had come from even faster, striking the gray-white-furred Werewolf that had leaped toward him.

She screamed and fell to the ground, struggling as she returned to human form.

Sagreles pointed at the woman writhing on the ground and continued his unhurried commentary. "Bloodscab Seraphina, formerly a healer at St Mungo's. Obsessed with developing a new plague combining wolf venom and potions, she voluntarily joined the Blood Moon Alliance to obtain living experimental materials."

He lifted his eyelids slightly. "I heard you cultivated a parasitic plant using Werewolf saliva, one that grows around a victim's vocal cords and screams until they die?"

Without waiting for an answer, a Scarlet Rend ended her suffering.

Then he turned and waved his wand at the cast-iron walkway in the distance. The heavy steel immediately came alive, transforming into a giant python that twisted its body wildly as it joined the battle.

A Werewolf leaping from the second floor toward Sagreles had no time to dodge and was sent flying by the snake's tail.

Even then, Sagreles continued speaking. "Grumado Brock, a Squib-born alchemist's assistant. To follow Fenrir in fighting magical discrimination, he voluntarily murdered the benefactor who saved his life."

A Reducto turned him into drifting ash. Without pausing, Sagreles swung his wand again. "Chaotic Reassembly!"

The curtain torn apart by another Werewolf on the left had not even reached the ground before the scattered velvet immediately reassembled into a barbed rope net, trapping it in midair.

"Twin Werewolves Tik and Topak, deformed conjoined twins who enjoy carving two-headed wolf marks onto the corpses of their victims..."

He raised his wand. A cone-shaped Humming Shockwave shot from its tip, directly blasting the two-headed Werewolf until blood poured from its mouth and nose and its internal organs ruptured.

Only then did Sagreles notice that he had stepped into a swamp of pus and blood. Blue flames had already ignited where the blood touched him.

He waved his wand disdainfully. "Frostfire Reversal!"

The flames immediately withdrew from beneath his feet and rapidly rolled back along the blood swamp into the Werewolf pack.

Frost magic froze the Werewolves' legs into ice sculptures, while fire magic burned their flesh until it rotted away.

The remaining five Werewolves were terrified out of their wits by Sagreles's barrage of attacks. Their faces filled with fear as they turned and fled.

"You can't escape..." His wand lightly tapped the steel python. The massive snake melted into scorching molten iron and rushed toward the remaining people.

The first two Werewolves to flee decisively dropped their Werewolf forms, pulled out their wands, and prepared to use Apparition.

But Sagreles was faster.

"Dislocation Reversal!"

The Werewolves who had just vanished through Apparition reappeared in midair, but the forcibly interrupted Apparition had torn their bodies into several pieces that scattered across the ground.

Sagreles's expression grew calmer and calmer. Stepping over wolf fur littering the ground, he walked toward the dying Gargo Scarfella, pointed his wand at the man's forehead, and said coldly, "Give Fenrir my regards..."

A subtle ripple swept past, and Gargo, hanging from the rock spikes, became nothing more than a corpse.

Turning to look at the sprawling Flint family estate, Sagreles calmly controlled the iron torrent as it smashed into every building.

The ancient Baroque building was soon ravaged beyond recognition by magic. But to completely eliminate the magical portraits within, Sagreles stood at a distance and cast a second ancient war spell.

"Meteor Summoning!"

The sky abruptly changed color. A massive burning meteor tore through the clouds and crashed down with fierce wind pressure.

This was a remnant spell from the era of war between Giants and wizards. Like Iron Armor Torrent, it was a war spell centered on efficient killing, wide-area destruction, and strategic control. It had now been classified as forbidden magic by the International Confederation of Wizards.

Looking at the nearly completely destroyed buildings, Sagreles murmured, "There aren't many Flint family members left. I hope you'll learn your lesson!"