The autumn wind carries withered yellow leaves and sweeps through the streets of Hogsmeade.
Hermione hugged the thick Parchment to his chest, wrapped his scarf tightly, and hurriedly walked through the lively crowd in front of Honeydukes's door, turning into a dark and damp Gravel Alley deep in High Street.
She slipped out alone.
Ever since that morning when Draco shouted those words angrily outside Ancient Runes's classroom, the two of them had not even had eye contact for ten days.
Draco met her in the corridor, her face was as cold as Obsidian in Cellar, she turned around and left;
And the ridiculous rumors in the castle about the "ancient marriage contract" and "Malfoy being a matchmaker" made Hermione almost afraid to stay in Common Room for even one more minute.
But she couldn't really let it go.
Draco The bandage on his right wrist is changed more and more frequently, and the sinister and crazy look in his eyes is getting deeper day by day.
Hermione knows exactly what he is thinking--
Death Eaters's reckoning will come at any time, and he, a young man whose family is in decline, can only keep forcing himself to practice magic and make progress every moment.
But fortunately, he still has one last life-saving straw that he can cling to -
It's the ancient fragment he printed out from the bottom layer of the Malfoy Manor tomb.
Draco firmly believes that it is an ancient secret method that is powerful enough to protect oneself.
Otherwise, the ancestors would not have gone to great lengths to seal it there.
The only question is, how to decipher it?
No relevant records can be found in the manor.
In Hogwarts Library, the records of Malfoy family were not detailed until the 14th century, and no complete records could be collected.
Hermione wrote several letters to the manager of Diagon Alley Flourish and Blotts before, but there was no news.
It was not until recently that the kind-hearted old clerk mentioned something vaguely in his reply:
[Regular bookstores destroyed such miscellaneous volumes half a century ago. But if Miss Granger is really in a hurry to use it, Wind Chime Secondhand Bookshop in the corner of Hogsmeade may have an original copy collected in the early years.]
At the end of the narrow alley, a wooden sign with blurred writing eroded by wind and rain hangs on the door beam.
[Wind Chime Secondhand Bookshop]
Hermione pushed open the low Oak door, the door shaft let out a dull groan, and the rusty bronze wind chime above the head made several dry and soft sounds.
It's colder inside the store than outside.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of damp wood, moldy Parchment, and inferior anti-moth potions. The cramped front room was filled to the brim with two rows of tall bookshelves that reached the ceiling. The light was dim, except for an oil lamp flickering like a bean in the corner.
Behind the counter, a shriveled old wizard was snoring in a tattered easy chair.
"Sir?" Hermione stepped forward and called tentatively.
Like a rusty clockwork, the old man raised his eyelids slowly and stiffly.
His eyes were cloudy and scattered. He stared straight at Hermione for two seconds, and the corners of his mouth twitched:
"The back hall...Rare Books Reading Room, five Sickle deposits... there are Anti-Apparition Jinx... don't get it wrong."
The voice was dry and hoarse, without any fluctuation.
Hermione Put the silver coins on the counter.
The old man's skinny fingers blankly swept the money into the drawer, then his head tilted, his eyelids drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep again almost at the same moment.
Hermione frowned, thinking that the old clerk was old and lethargic. Without thinking much, he turned around and walked through a low stone arch, and quickly walked into the long and narrow Reading Room at the back.
The back hall became even more silent and lifeless.
Hermione followed the contents of the letter from manager Flourish and Blotts, and kept rummaging through several rows of bookshelves, and finally found an ancient book that was heavy and as hard as iron.
"Northern Tomb Guardians’ Register".
Parchment The cover has become crispy and black, and neatly sandwiched between the layers is a palm-sized thin copper plate engraved with groove patterns.
Hermione felt hot in his heart and quickly carried the ancient book to Long Table in the center.
She took out Wand and muttered Lumos in a low voice, then took out the magnifying glass and ancient Ancient Runes dictionary she carried with her, and eagerly aligned the copperplate pattern with the fragments copied by Draco.
The fingertips slowly traced along the complicated Ancient Runes pattern on the notch.
"The obtuse talisman here... is the terminating form." Hermione muttered to himself, breathing a little quickly, "Reinforce Magic... maintain... make it unfading..."
This set of Ancient Runes looks extremely domineering. It does not even need to continuously inject Magic. Once it is started, it can maintain its operation autonomously for a long time.
"Really some kind of ancient Dark Magic?"
Hermione's heart was beating fast, and his fingers turned impatiently to the text of instructions and practical diagrams at the back--
However, as the pages of the book opened with a splash, the movements of Hermione's fingertips suddenly froze.
Under the weak Lumos, what is painted on Parchment is not a shield at all, nor is it the legend of Dark Magic.
That's a man's face.
To be precise, it's a dead man's face.
The illustration is cruelly divided into two parts: front and back:
In the previous picture, the cheeks are sunken, the eye sockets are sunken, and the death look is gloomy and distorted;
Then in the next picture, after being outlined with a spell, the cheeks became full and plump again, and the corners of the lips were even pulled out into a strange and stiff smile. He closed his eyes and smiled, which was so peaceful that it made one's heart tremble.
Below it is clearly written in neat old English:
[At the moment of death, collect the energy that is about to dissipate and caress his face. This will make the deceased's cheeks plump and his lips look life-like, so that the guests will not see the pain of dying.]
[Those who smile too much will have their last stroke reversed.]
[Note: It cannot be used on the living. Magic is exhausted and dead, this method is not applicable.]
[Another note: Before reading the will, you must remove your smile to avoid irritating those who have not received the inheritance.]
Hermione's fingers holding the magnifying glass trembled slightly, and he turned another page in disbelief.
The following pages are more detailed.
In the densely packed small characters, there are even detailed descriptions of how to adjust the different curvatures of Ancient Runes to keep the corners of the deceased's mouth absolutely symmetrical, and how to prevent the hair from falling off during the period of inactivity.
A sense of complete absurdity suddenly swept through Hermione's whole body.
It's not a life-saving ancient Dark Magic at all.
This is a seventeenth-century funeral makeup guide for decorating the appearance of dead nobles to prevent embarrassment.
She is still trying her best to find a way for Draco to survive.
But what his ancestors cared about was whether he died beautifully enough?
There was dead silence all around.
In the shadow of the dark and claustrophobic bookshelf, the waxy yellow illustration with a dead smile on Long Table seemed to be staring at her coldly through Parchment.
Hermione A thin layer of cold sweat formed on his back, and his heart beat violently.
Just when this gloomy chill reached its peak--
Dang Cang--!
The heavy wooden door of the front hall was suddenly opened, and the bronze wind chime on the door lintel made a series of harsh sounds.
The sudden sound exploded in the dead bookstore. Hermione trembled with fright, and Quill almost flew out of his hand.
She grabbed Wand on the table, stood up suddenly, took a half step back and stared at the arch of Reading Room warily.
From the front hall, the old shopkeeper's inarticulate grunts could be heard vaguely after he was awakened:
"... Five Rare Books Sickle..."
Rapid footsteps trampled across the wooden floor of the front hall, and then, a thin figure appeared at the door of Reading Room.
The person who came was wearing a dark traveling cloak that was ruffled by the wind, and the collar of his moon-white shirt was slightly open. His short, meticulously blond hair was messily attached to his pale forehead, and his chest was rising and falling violently.
Draco Malfoy.
After seeing the person clearly, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
Draco's hand holding Wand froze at his side. After seeing that the girl behind Long Table was safe and sound, he obviously relaxed a little.
Eyes facing each other.
For a moment, no one spoke.
It was so quiet in Reading Room that you could hear a pin drop.
Those words in the castle corridor a few days ago, those rumors in the castle, are obviously still between the two of them.
Draco tightened his jaw, trying to find the cold shell of the aristocratic young master, and his tone was as stiff as if he had just been fished out of the freezer:
"What are you doing here alone?"
Hermione also quickly retracted Wand, raised his chin, suppressed the frightened panic just now, and said in the same strong tone:
"Do your homework. It seems there is no rule that students cannot enter the used bookstore on Hogsmeade day, right? Mr. Malfoy?"
She calmed down and suddenly sneered and counterattacked:
"It's you, Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing here alone? You--you're not following me, are you?"
Draco's pale face suddenly turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, burning all the way to the base of his ears.
He turned his face away, moved his eyes stiffly to the bookshelf next to him, and said in a stiff and awkward tone:
"... I'm not following you, I'm taking a walk... I just happened to pass by..."
Hermione The violent heartbeat in his chest gradually calmed down, followed by a sense of good humor and absurdity.
She raised her eyebrows:
"The walking route from Three Broomsticks to Hogsmeade, the most remote Secondhand Bookshop? Mr. Malfoy, is really strange."
Draco was choked so much that his face turned blue and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Bellatrix is still going crazy outside! There are Dementor everywhere around you! If you run to this ghost place alone, if you encounter--"
"I'm here to wipe the butt of some ungrateful young master."
Hermione interrupted him coldly.
She put away Wand and pointed at the spread "Northern Tomb Guardians’ Register" and the ancient copper plate:
"The 'Malfoy family Top Secret' you have been thinking about so much is here."
Draco was stunned.
His eyes moved along the girl's fingers.
On Long Table, the copper plate with Old Norse written all over it is placed next to the oil lamp, and next to it is a stack of Parchment written with neat handwriting.
The grammar fragments that he had been working on for countless all-nighters and could not spell out completely, had actually been clearly marked paragraph by paragraph by Hermione using Ink in different colors.
Did she come here alone to translate this fragment for him?
Draco What he wanted to say suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Those light gray eyes stared intently at the notes.
All the coldness and defensiveness in the young man's eyes shattered Silencio at this moment.
She didn't ignore him.
Even though she had a huge quarrel in front of the whole school, she still took the risk alone and ran to this remote and dark black bookstore, just to complete the set of magic for him that he thought could save his life.
Draco's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and his clenched fists loosened little by little.
"Come and take a look," Hermione dragged a chair over angrily, "And take a good look at the 'supreme magic' left by your ancestors."
Draco walked forward somewhat awkwardly, pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.
He looked along where the pen tip of Hermione pointed, and his eyes fell on the translation on Parchment and the woodcut illustrations on the page.
There was a dead silence in front of Long Table.
Draco stared at the translation on Parchment, his eyes widened little by little, his face changed from pale to confused, and then from confused to an indescribable weirdness:
"... Plumper cheeks? Life-colored lips?"
The young man pointed at the line of subnotes, his voice trembling. "Prevent... prevent hair from falling off?!"
He looked at the woodcut illustration.
The shriveled corpse in the sarcophagus was forcibly pulled out with a symmetrical and funny fake smile, and there was a strict note next to it. "If the smile is too exaggerated, the last stroke should be reversed to harmonize with the appearance."
Draco's mouth, which had been tense for several months, twitched violently.
He lowered his head, and a sound like air leaking from a bellows came out of his throat.
The young man raised his uninjured hand to cover half of his face, his shoulders began to huff uncontrollably, and he laughed at himself and without strength.
There is no joy in the laughter, it is all the absurdity of self-destruction.
He turned Malfoy Manor's grave upside down and broke all the protective magic at all costs. He was choked by Bellatrix in nightmares all night long, and bet all his wealth and life on this so-called ancestral secret treasure.
As a result, their ancestors, in Chamber of Secrets, the most heavily protected family, left such a deadly anti-hair loss gadget?
After laughing for a while, Draco leaned back on the chair and looked up at the darkened ceiling.
The tears in the corners of his eyes were slightly illuminated by the oil lamp, and his whole figure seemed to have been drained of its skeleton, and his face was as pale as paper.
Hermione Originally wanted to say something sarcastic to him, but looking at the young man's miserable appearance, he pursed his lips and swallowed the words as they reached his lips.
She has seen what Draco looks like these days--
Nervous, irritable, and baring his teeth at everyone in the corridor like a mad dog.
But now that shell of bravado has been removed, the person sitting in front of her is just a peer who was driven to a dead end by the shadow of the family.
Hermione stretched out his hand and pulled the stack of notes Parchment back in front of him, with his usual stubbornness in his tone:
"Okay, don't look like it's the end of the world."
Draco didn't move, just closed his eyes weakly. "... It can't save anyone, and it can't stop her."
"If you can't stop it, change to something else," Hermione picked up Quill, dipped it in Ink, and said without raising his head, "It's not like all the profound magic in the world is written on Malfoy family Chamber of Secrets. If this one doesn't work, we'll look for the next one. There are so many files in Hogwarts Library, and I've only flipped through a small part of Restricted Section... Don't give up, I will continue to help you."
The girl's voice was calm, without preaching or sympathy, just as natural as saying "Let's do this exercise again" in Charms class.
Draco Open your eyes.
He turned his head and looked at Hermione blankly.
Normally, he would have reflexively uttered a bunch of harsh and harsh words.
But this time, those habitual rebuttals were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't pronounce a single syllable.
The dim light of the oil lamp reflected on the side of the girl's face.
Only then did Draco notice that Hermione had a thick layer of blue and black under his eyes, and his brown eyes were filled with fine bloodshot streaks from staying up late.
The fluffy curly hair was messier than usual, and the woolen scarf was tilted to one side, with a dead leaf that had been scraped in the back alley hanging on it.
In order to understand the fragments he stole, she did not know how many documents she read, wrote many letters to Diagon Alley's bookstore, went to Hogsmeade alone in this gloomy shabby bookstore, and spent the night using two colors of Ink to sort out more than a dozen pages for comparison.
She is even more haggard than he is.
Draco His eye sockets were slightly hot, and his throat was so dry that it hurt.
He didn't speak or turn his face away, he just sat there and looked at her quietly.
On Long Table, the ancient copper plate that was regarded as top secret by the ancestors of Malfoy glowed with a cold and dead light.
Draco stretched out his bandaged hand and pushed the copper plate aside.
He took a deep breath, and the sinking despair in his eyes condensed into something hard:
"... I won't give up."
Draco's voice is very low, but the words are extremely clear:
"If the family's magic is unreliable, then it's up to me."
Hermione stopped writing, raised her head and glanced at him. The girl raised her chin slightly, and finally a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth:
"This is like a human saying."
She turned the yellowed page back to the previous page, and her fingertips traced the interlaced Runes:
"And it's not completely useless. Look here - although it can't protect living people, it does reveal a complete set of ancient structures. 'At the end of the day, collect its dissipated power and give it to the connected guardians.'"
Draco looked at the copper plate that he pushed aside. "Forcibly catch the spilled Magic before death... But the prerequisite is that someone must die first."
"Yes, although it seems a bit ridiculous, this closed grammar that uses the moment of the end of life to capture dissipated energy has long been lost in modern Ancient Runes. Although it cannot be used against Dark Wizard, it should not be completely useless. I have to copy it and bring it back to school."
Hermione picked up Quill again and drew complex Ancient Runes lines on Parchment.
Draco pulled the chair closer and sat next to her, silently picking up the magnifying glass and helping her compare the tiny notches on the copper plate.
Hermione carefully blew the ink on Parchment, rolled it up and stuffed it deep into the bag.
The two stood up in front of Long Table, and the flame of the oil lamp danced.
Draco was lowering his head and patting the wall plaster on the cuffs of his coat. The bandage on his right wrist was oozing with dark red. Hermione's hair was even more disheveled than usual, and there were two streaks of green and black under his eyes that couldn't be washed away.
Their eyes met in the dim light.
Draco twitched the corners of his mouth, but Hermione didn't hold back and burst into laughter.
"Go to Three Broomsticks." Hermione threw the bag on his shoulder, "I'll treat you to a drink Butterbeer."
Draco was stunned for a moment, and the base of his ears turned slightly red.
But this time he was not as sarcastic as usual, he just put away Wand and cleared his throat stiffly:
"... Don't add cinnamon, it's too greasy."
The two walked out side by side.
At the counter in front, the old shopkeeper was still dozing off wrapped in the old blanket.
Everything looks unchanged.
But when Draco just opened the door to the front hall--
Bang!
The heavy Oak door in the front hall was slammed shut in front of the two people, and the door latch clicked shut automatically.
Immediately afterwards, the thick velvet curtains on the surrounding high windows seemed to be pulled by invisible hands and closed tightly with a crash. The last trace of daylight in the bookstore was instantly extinguished, leaving only the smell of moldy paper permeating the cramped space.
"Who?!"
Hermione responded extremely quickly, and Wand instantly slipped into the palm of your hand.
"You can't go anywhere, Master Malfoy... and this smart young lady."
Deep in the dark bookshelf, there was a sticky and weird breathing sound.
A short, fat, hunchbacked figure slowly moved out of the shadows and stood firmly in front of the arch. He was wearing a thick, dirty and tattered cloak, with sparse yellow hair sticking to his scalp. His pointed nose looked like a big mouse, and he was holding a short, black Wand in his hand.
Hermione raised his stick and pointed it at him. "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
The short, fat man grinned, revealing a mouth full of burnt and incomplete teeth:
"Hand over the Parchment just now, miss."
He let out a harsh sneer, "Magic, who is about to die... and noble Malfoy family, actually only regards it as a plastic surgery trick in Coffin? What a waste of natural resources! As long as it is dedicated to the master, it may be the supreme method that allows Inferi to truly possess Magic!"
The man's cloudy little eyes rolled on the two people's faces, and his expression became sinister:
"As for who I am... you don't need to know, I'm going to die soon anyway."
Draco, standing in front, stared at that disgusting face, his expression changing from surprise to extremely cold.
"Peter·Pettigrew?"
Draco's voice sounded like it was being ground between teeth.
"The one who was left with only one finger by Sirius·Black ten years ago... the traitor who betrayed the Chosen One and his wife?"
Peter was stunned for a moment, and then the fat all over his body started to twitch. His little eyes burst out with a sick and flattered look:
"Oh...Malfoy family Dear young master, you actually recognize my name...Lucius Did you mention me like this before?"
Before the flattered fake smile dissipated, Peter's eyes suddenly burst out with a ferocious killing intent.
"But no matter what, you will all die today!"
His hand holding the staff suddenly moved forward, his lips opened and closed rapidly, and green light began to condense on the tip of the staff -
He wants to use Avada Kedavra.
But not everyone can cast Killing Curse as quickly as Voldemort in the Dacheng period. Peter is obviously a bit too much.
Draco didn't even give him time to finish reading Spell.
"Impedimenta(Impedimenta)!"
The invisible shock wave hit Peter's front door.
Peter stumbled, and Killing Curse, which was about to take shape, was abruptly interrupted, and the green light burst into the air with a pop.
Peter screamed and rolled behind the counter, scrambling to open an iron shield.
Hermione and Spell follow one after another:
"Accio Books(Book Accio)!"
Dozens of heavy old tomes on the bookshelves on both sides behind him roared and hit the man. The crackling sound made Peter unable to even lift his head.
Several of the books with brass bindings immediately gave Shield Charm a hole.
The last Accio is the book "Northern Tomb Guardians’ Register".
The thick spine of the book passed through the gap in the shield and hit Peter in the back of the head.
The man screamed and stumbled forward.
The ancient book fell to the ground, and the smiling dead face happened to be opened.
The old man at the counter was also startled by the noise and raised his head.
"Damage... compensation according to price..."
Before he finished speaking, he snored and his head drooped again.
Draco took advantage of the situation and pressed forward, Wand threw it continuously, and the two disarming Red Light flew past Peter's scalp, shattering the Ink frame behind it.
Peter has been living as a mouse for a long time, and his combat spell casting has long been rusty and clumsy.
In the cramped and narrow passage, faced with the violent attack of two top students who cooperated tacitly, he was suppressed for a moment. He couldn't find an opening to distance himself and release Dark Magic.
At the moment when Peter was knocked dizzy and the shield was crumbling, Hermione seized the flaw, and Wand volleyed fiercely:
"Incarcerous(Incarcerous)!"
Thick hemp ropes shot out of the air, tying up the short and fat man tightly and knocking him to the ground.
"Expelliarmus(Expelliarmus)!"
Draco added a Red Light almost at the same moment, hitting Peter's struggling wrist accurately. The thick, black Wand was thrown out of his hand and fell to the wooden floor with a clang.
Draco stepped forward quickly and kicked Wand on the ground into the blind spot under the heavy bookshelf.
"Hiss--"
The short, fat man on the ground was tightly tightened by the rope, and his throat twitched painfully.
Seeing this scene, the two of them immediately relaxed a little.
Hermione gasped violently while holding on to the bookshelf, his heart beating rapidly. "He... is he really still alive? We need to find Professor McGonagall immediately, and Ministry of Magic..."
Draco gasped and stared at the prisoner on the ground warily. "I'll guard him, you go back to Three Broomsticks and call someone -"
The words have not yet fallen.
Hemp Rope on the ground suddenly loosened up without any warning.
As if the living people inside had evaporated out of thin air, the thick rope loops collapsed softly and lay empty on the wooden floor.
Draco and Hermione froze suddenly, and their eyes moved down at the same time.
Where are the people?!
In the shadow, a gray, fat mouse jumped out from the gap in the rope loop like an arrow, and the shadow of the counter instantly stretched its bones and returned them to their original positions.
Neither of them knew that Peter was an illegal Animagus and were unprepared for it.
A short and fat figure suddenly emerged from the blind spot behind the two of them, with a spare Wand pulled out of the boot in his hand!
Chi! Chi!
Two dazzling Red Light shot out almost directly against the backs of their hearts.
Stunning Spell.
The distance was too close and the angle was too tricky. Draco and Hermione didn't even have time to turn around and raise their sticks before they were hit hard on the back.
The two of them couldn't even make a complete groan. Their bodies softened and they fell heavily on the cold and wet stone floor. The Wand in their hands fell out of their hands.
The bookstore returns to deathly silence.
Peter stood panting beside the two fallen bodies, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"I almost... almost went to Azkaban to accompany those crazy people..."
He squatted down, roughly pulled off the schoolbag from Hermione's waist, rummaged around inside for a few times, and finally pulled out the Parchment volume that was filled with dense handwriting.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Peter stared at Ancient Runes on the paper, and the fat all over his body twitched with excitement.
"I found it... haha, there really is..."
His voice was shrill and trembling with extreme excitement.
"Conquer the dead Magic... With this... If you go to the master this way, he won't blame me for hiding him for so many years. Bellatrix That crazy woman doesn't dare to do anything to me..."
Peter tightened Parchment, turned his head, and looked at Draco and Hermione who were unconscious on the ground.
Morbid ecstasy was quickly replaced by viciousness.
He grasped the spare Wand he pulled out from his boot, pointed the tip of the stick directly at Draco's chest, opened and closed his lips quickly, and the green Killing Curse light began to spit out a message like a poisonous snake at the tip of the stick:
"Malfoy family's young master... and you, poor lady... only the dead would not tell the truth."
Haha, have you really been to History of Magic?
At the moment when the green light was about to burst out--
Chi!
The Parchment in Peter's hand suddenly slipped, as if it was forcibly dragged away by an invisible hand, and drew a neat straight line in mid-air, whizzing to the rear.
Peter was suddenly startled, and even the green light that was about to take shape on the tip of the staff was abruptly interrupted, and he turned his head in shock.
"Who?!"
In the shadow of the tall bookshelf on the side of the arch, a black-haired boy slowly walked out.
I saw him raising his right hand, firmly catching the roll of Parchment in mid-air, and casually dusted off the floating dust on it.
The person coming is none other than Gavin.
He used Perfect Disillusionment Charm and followed Malfoy into the bookstore, hiding in the corner until now.
Gavin glanced down at the words on the paper, raised his eyelids, and looked calmly at the stiff, short, fat man.
"You actually want to use anti-hair loss prescriptions to please Voldemort?"
Gavin shook his head:
"I think--"
"Tom That braised egg head will definitely make you angry."