Northern suburbs.
The elm trees on both sides of the road grew crookedly, and the sunlight was cut to pieces by the branches.
Lin Ze Following the route given by the old man in the tavern, he walked along a gravel road that was half eaten by weeds for about twenty minutes before he saw two crooked iron doors.
The iron gate was covered with withered vines, and the house-guarding beasts on both sides of the gate were missing half of their heads.
The iron door was ajar, but Lin Ze didn't step in.
The old house has a very powerful defensive magic. While expelling Muggle, it also has a huge deterrent effect on wizards.
Lin Ze knocked twice on the iron door with the wand.
After a while, an old House-elf poked its head out of the iron door.
The tea towel on its body was washed white, its ears were hanging limply, and its big light bulb-like eyes were so cloudy that the pupils could not be seen clearly.
"Sir... yes?" Its voice was very thin, but it also conveyed a sense of vicissitudes of life.
"Is this Mulciber's house?"
"Yes, sir, I am House-elf here. Sir, you can call me Meep..."
"Meep, I am from Ministry of Magic. I would like to find Mr. Mulciber for some information." As he said that, Lin Ze flashed his badge.
Meep's eyes quickly scanned the badge in Lin Ze's hand.
"Sir, wait a moment, Meep is going to ask the owner." After that, Meep turned around and walked towards the house.
About five or six minutes later, Meep's short figure appeared in the gap in the iron door again.
"Sir, you have been waiting for a long time. The master has not seen guests for a long time... Please come in..."
After Meep finished speaking, he snapped his fingers. Lin Ze felt the air in front of him shaking. Then House-elf opened the gap in the iron door wider, just enough for Lin Ze to enter.
Lin Ze follows Meep and passes through the Entrance Hall.
Although the sunshine is good today, it is very dark inside the house.
The corridor is narrow and long, and most of the portraits hanging on the walls on both sides have been covered with dust. The characters in the frames are no longer there, leaving only light marks.
Meep took him to the door of a reception room, stopped, and said, "The master is inside, go in yourself."
Lin Ze nodded and raised his hand to push the door open.
The door shaft made a "squeak" sound.
The room was not big, and the flame in the fireplace was burning half-deadly, making a "crackling" sound from time to time.
There was an old man sitting on a high-backed chair on one side of the room.
It is Old Mulciber.
He looked very thin, and the old dark brown robe hung on him like a human skeleton.
The old man's hair was sparse and lay on his scalp. His hands were resting on the armrests of the chair. His fingers were long and the joints were protruding.
The sides of the cheeks are sunken, the cheekbones are high, and the eye sockets are deeply set.
"Are you that...Ministry of Magic person?" His voice was very soft, giving people a feeling of looking down upon everything.
"For an old man like me who is about to die, what else is worthy of Ministry of Magic people coming here to do?"
Lin Ze sat down opposite him and said without mincing words, "Mr. Mulciber, there have been several murder cases London recently. We suspect... that they are related to the vampires."
Old Mulciber's eyelids were raised and then lowered.
"Ah... vampire... I haven't heard anyone mention this word in a long time."
"I heard that the Mulciber family had dealt with vampires before?"
Old Mulciber chuckled, "Young man, the surname Mulciber cannot withstand this kind of trouble now."
"Can't you put all the blame on us just because of the past?"
"I didn't mean that." Lin Ze said.
"I just think you should know more about these things."
Old Mulciber was silent for a while, then slowly said, "Young man, what is your name?"
"Lin Ze."
"Lin Ze..." he repeated, as if savoring the name.
"Are you Asian?"
"Yes."
"After so many years of not communicating with the outside world, it seems that those old diehards at Ministry of Magic have also become more flexible." Old Mulciber said.
"It's considered special treatment during special times." Lin Ze certainly knew what he was referring to.
Old Mulciber slowly raised his head and stared at Lin Ze, his cloudy eyes shining slightly in the light of the fire.
"Tell me young man, what do you want to know?"
"How much do you know about the vampire sealed by Flamel?"
Old Mulciber chuckled and shook his head, "I think... you want to ask... if that thing is alive again..."
Lin Ze nodded slightly.
"It... was never dead..." Old Mulciber said.
"When Master Flamel sealed it, the ancestors of the Mulciber family also contributed..."
Lin Ze raised his eyebrows, this was something he had never thought of.
"At that time, Mulciber still had some weight in Wizarding World. If something happened to Wizarding World, the family would always contribute..."
"It's just..."
"Just what?" Lin Ze asked.
"It's just... there are always some people who can't bear loneliness and the temptation of eternal life..."
"My father... in order to live forever... he dug out the family's forbidden book and found the place where the vampire was sealed..."
"Then... the matter came to light, and Albus came to the door in person..." Old Mulciber's eyes suddenly showed excitement.
"At that time, Albus was known as the most promising wizard of the Dumbledore family to achieve Magic God..."
"Magic God?" Lin Ze asked in confusion. He never knew that there was such a thing as Magic God in the wizarding world.
"Haha... You young people don't know what's normal. After all, that kind of existence... can no longer be compared to ordinary people..."
"Have you seen Magic God?"
"Cough cough cough..." Old Mulciber suddenly coughed excitedly.
"Yeah... cough cough cough... I was still young at the time, and I only saw his back from a very far away place... It was simply... the arrival of the true god... Under his power, this world can only be regarded as a foil..."
So exaggerated?
Lin Ze blinked, is he so good?
"Then Dumbledore..."
Old Mulciber shook his head. "He failed... Our generation has all witnessed the peak of Albus... But... he ultimately lost to himself..."
Defeated by yourself?
Well... after all, Lin Ze knows that Dumbledore has inner demons. Whether it is his sister or Grindelwald, they are pain points that he cannot get around in his life.
"I'm a little off topic..." Old Mulciber coughed twice again.
"Albus cleared out all those in my father and family who wanted to gain immortality through the blood race, and re-strengthened the seal of Master Flamel..."
"Since then, my family has been marginalized in Wizarding World. All its original glory has disappeared, and it has become a scourge that everyone can avoid. When it was in glory, the hall at home was always full of guests, but after it fell... alas..."
All the helplessness of old Mulciber turned into a sigh.