"These mice are in exactly the same state as the victimized wizard. In other words, this thing not only feeds on wizards, but also has the desire to eat such small creatures."
"In other words, eating small animals is just a stage for it..."
"Look at the root of this wall, the roots of Corpse Vine have penetrated several inches under the stone slab. This thing can't be accumulated to this extent after a month."
Carl tapped the ground with his toes, and there were indeed a few tiny gray-green roots emerging from the gaps in the stone slabs, like dead earthworms.
"You mean, that thing stayed in Knockturn Alley for at least a month, and at first it fed on these small creatures?" Lin Ze frowned.
"Yes." Carl nodded.
"It looks like that thing won't be back here for a while, or our arrival has already alerted it."
"Let's go back first and see what Arthur and the others find."
When several people returned to the office, Weiqi had already returned. His face looked better than in the morning, and he had an additional inspection form from St. Mungo's in his hand.
"What do you say?" Lin Ze took the order.
"These particles contain high concentrations of dark biologically active tissue. St. Mungo's suggested that I send samples to Magical Creatures Research Institute, but they will not accept outside orders today."
"Okay, I'll trouble you to run over tomorrow." Lin Ze folded the inspection form and put it in the drawer.
Arthur and Ben also came back from outside.
Ben looked like an eggplant beaten by frost, holding a roll of parchment in his hand and throwing it on the Lin Ze table.
"I've been running all morning and my legs are almost broken."
Arthur was in good spirits and poured himself a glass of water as soon as he entered the door. "Lin, we have checked. At first glance, these seven missing people do not have much in common, but their accident locations are all within the same range."
Lin Ze raised his eyebrows. "Where?"
"Between Delis Secondhand Shop to Slinger Alley." Arthur said.
Lin Ze and Carl looked at each other.
"Looks like I have to go squat tonight." Lin Ze said.
"Have you discovered anything?" Amos asked.
Lin Ze then told everyone about the dead end that he discovered today.
"I'll go with you." Barty Crouch Jr. stood up.
Lin Ze looked at him and then at Mia.
Mia also stood up. "Count me in."
"Okay, let's meet at the northern section of Knockturn Alley at ten o'clock tonight."
Ten o'clock in the evening.
There were no street lights in the alley, only a few dark red magic lamps were lit at a few corners. The light was dim, making the mold spots on the wall look like half-open eyes.
Lin Ze was wrapped in an old black cloak and squatted at the alley opposite Delis Secondhand Shop. Next to him were Barty Crouch Jr. and Mia, who were also wrapped tightly.
"This place is truly the underworld at night." Lin Ze complained softly.
Mia said nothing and kept staring in the direction of the dead alley diagonally opposite.
Time passed by, and occasionally a few cats meowing and the sound of wind blowing garbage came from Knockturn Alley.
Just when Lin Ze was squatting until his ankles were numb, suddenly a subtle "buzzing" sound came from a distance.
The sound was very soft, like countless flies flapping their wings in a very distant place.
But there were no flies in the alley at all.
"There is movement." Lin Ze reminded the two of them in a low voice.
Barty Crouch Jr.'s hand is already on the wand.
Lin Ze also took out the wand and lowered his voice. "Don't move yet, you can't see anything yet."
The "buzzing" sound is getting closer and closer, but there is no living thing in the alley.
Immediately afterwards, a black mist floated silently over from the alleyway to the north.
The fog clung to the wall and moved slowly.
"What the hell is this?" Lin Ze whispered.
The black mist floated across from the junk shop and suddenly stopped.
It seemed to be sniffing something, its edge rippled slightly for a few times, then turned around and floated towards the alley where the Lin Ze trio were hiding.
"Damn, have you been discovered?" Lin Ze gripped the wand tightly.
"Squat down and don't move." Mia suddenly pressed Lin Ze's wrist.
Her hands were frighteningly cold, and Lin Ze was so cold that she shivered.
The black mist stopped at the entrance of the alley, slid close to the ground for a while, suddenly accelerated violently, and crashed into a pile of empty wine boxes diagonally opposite.
With a "bang", the wine box was knocked open and flew away. A black cat screamed and jumped out of it, and disappeared in a flash.
The black mist circled twice in the pile of wine boxes and drifted out slowly, seemingly dissatisfied with the loss of its prey.
Lin Ze breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that he didn't notice any of them.
Lin Ze saw the black mist slowly drifting towards another alley, and quickly called for the two of them to follow.
"Can you feel anything?" Lin Ze asked in a low voice as he walked.
"I can't feel the magic power fluctuation." Barty Crouch Jr. shook his head.
Mia also nodded.
The three of them clung to the wall, following the black mist at a distance of twenty or thirty steps.
It was very cold at night, and Lin Ze's breath condensed into a small cloud of white mist in front of his eyes, which quickly dissipated.
The black mist turned into a narrow alley and slid slowly along the ground, stopping from time to time as if sniffing something.
"Is it looking for prey?" Lin Ze whispered.
"Probably." Barty Crouch Jr. nodded.
"This thing's sense of smell must be very sensitive. It just smelled the cat's scent and pounced on it."
Have a keen sense of smell?
Lin Ze felt the hairs all over his body explode when he heard this.
He pulled the two of them back almost as a reflex.
The black mist suddenly stopped in the middle of the alley, and then dispersed like a popped balloon.
Lin Ze's figure froze.
The next moment, a large amount of black mist suddenly seeped out from the walls on both sides of the heads of the three people, pouring out from the cracks in the bricks like ink.
The black mist condensed at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a huge wall of mist within a few seconds, blocking the way forward for the three of them.
"Fuck." Lin Ze cursed and pointed the wand above his head.
A gray-white hand stretched out from the wall of fog, with five fingers that were disproportionately long, like a soaked branch, and it grabbed straight at the three of them.
Barty Crouch Jr. reacted extremely quickly, and blasted past with "Reducto".
The hand was blown into pieces, but the broken black mist circled in the air and re-consolidated into the shape of the hand, even the size did not change.
"It's useless." Barty Crouch Jr. frowned.
Mia's wand flicked slightly, and a silver-blue light shot out from the tip of the wand, hitting the fog wall and causing ripples.
The fog wall shrank back half an inch as if it had been burned, but quickly pressed back again.
Barty Crouch Jr. and Lin Ze hit Charms, and it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, with only a few ripples splashing out.
"Let's go!"
Lin Ze dragged the two of them back.
The black mist followed closely behind, like a puddle of living mud, rushing over against the walls and ground.
While Lin Ze was retreating, he turned back and used Transfiguration to raise a high wall.
Unexpectedly, the black mist passed directly through the high wall and continued to pounce on the three of them.