On Thursday, it started to drizzle at Kensington District.
Lin Ze stood under the awning of a cafe on the corner of the street, holding a piece of "Daily Prophet" in his hand. The entire page of the newspaper was softened by the rain, and the writing on it was blurred into a blue-black ink stain.
He squatted here for more than an hour.
The house opposite is sandwiched between two red-brick buildings. The front door is very narrow and inconspicuous. There is an unnamed brass door plate hanging on the wrought iron door.
The house has three floors, and all the windows have dark curtains. Only the one on the left side of the top floor has a very dim light, like a half-closed eye.
Barty Crouch Jr. walked over from the end of the street, walked around in a big circle before approaching him, and lowered his voice. "There is no exit in the back alley. The wall is more than three meters high, and there are iron caltrops on the top."
"Where's the main entrance?"
"Protective Charm is arranged at the door. I tested it and stacked it at least three layers." Barty Crouch Jr. wiped the rain off his face, "If you force it open, it will make a lot of noise."
Lin Ze nodded.
There is nothing wrong with the address given by Fearn, but Old Mulciber obviously runs this place like a fortress.
"Where is Mia?"
"She takes Weiqi to guard the back streets. If something runs out of the window, she is responsible for intercepting it."
Lin Ze crumpled the newspaper into a ball, stuffed it into the trash can next to it, and walked out from under the awning.
The drizzle fell on his shoulders, and he raised his hand to cast a silent waterproof spell on himself. The mist rose from the surface of the clothes like a thin layer of smoke.
"Let's go and knock on the door."
Barty Crouch Jr. glanced at him. "Why don't you find out what's inside first?"
"If you wait any longer, the person from the vampire clan will arrive tonight to deliver things, and it will be even more troublesome then."
Lin Ze stepped across the street, the soles of his boots making a slight sound on the wet stone pavement.
He walked to the iron door, raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.
After waiting for about ten seconds, the door did not open, but a hoarse voice came from the brass speaker above the door frame.
"Who?"
"Ministry of Magic Special Operations Team, Lin Ze." He held the badge under the speaker.
"Mr. Mulciber, we have met before, Grey Mist Manor, do you still remember?"
There was silence on the loudspeaker for a while.
"Please come in, Mr. Lin, alone."
The iron door made a dull sound and automatically opened a crack inward.
Lin Ze pushed open the iron door and walked in.
The yard is small, paved with dark gravel, and neatly trimmed shrubs are planted at the base of the walls on both sides. The wet leaves glow dark green under the street lights.
The front door was ajar, he pushed it open and found a well-decorated Entrance Hall.
The mahogany floor was polished, and a grandfather clock stood beside the wall. The pendulum of the clock swung back and forth in the glass cover, making a slow clicking sound.
Old Mulciber is sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room on the first floor.
Today he is wearing a dark burgundy velvet smoking robe and a pair of soft slippers embroidered with gold thread. He is sitting in a high-backed armchair, his posture is much more calm than Grey Mist Manor was then.
There was a strong fire burning in the fireplace, and the firelight danced on his thin face, making those ravine-like wrinkles look alive.
"Sit down, Mr. Lin." He raised his chin and pointed to the chair opposite.
Lin Ze was not in a hurry to sit down, but looked around the living room.
There is a huge family tree tapestry hanging on the wall, which is slightly smaller than the one in Black's old house, but the embroidery is more exquisite.
Under the tapestry is a long table with a complete set of silver tea sets placed on the table. Next to it is an open tin box, which contains half a box of black powder exuding the aroma of Herbology.
"You are quite particular." Lin Ze sat down on the chair.
Old Mulciber didn't answer, but just looked at him, with no emotion in his muddy old eyes.
Lin Ze didn't touch the silver tea set.
Old Mulciber sat opposite, with his fingers lightly resting on the armrest, as calmly as if he were sitting in his living room receiving a visiting neighbor.
"Mr. Lin came tonight, I must have found something." Old Mulciber spoke first.
"We found a lot." Lin Ze leaned back in his chair, his eyes moving from the family tree tapestry on the wall to his face.
"For example, when your father was cleaned up by Dumbledore, for example, the most critical person was missing from the list you gave, for example... the things you collected here every Thursday night."
Old Mulciber's fingers paused.
"Young man, knowing some things may not be a good thing."
"What about you? After living for so many years, are the things you have done considered a good thing?"
Old Mulciber was silent for a few seconds.
Then he laughed.
The laughter squeezed out of the thin chest, like a rusty saw cutting old wood.
"You're right, I did lie to you." He flicked the ashes on the armrest.
"Fearn·Burke Did that old guy tell you?"
"Why must it be Fearn·Burke?" Lin Ze raised his eyebrows.
"Because I have been looking for him. It was not until recent decades that the madman Voldemort made Wizarding World a mess that I finally locked him in among many clues." Old Mulciber said.
"So you let someone deliberately reveal his whereabouts to me?"
"I was actually not sure that it was Fearn at first, until you really found him."
"That old guy has been alive for too long. He is very good at deceiving people. Maybe he deliberately let you know the things you know?" Old Mulciber stared at Lin Ze with burning eyes.
Lin Ze narrowed his eyes slightly. "It seems that you know more about what happened back then than I thought?"
"Back then? Haha... I spent a lot of effort to find out the truth from the group of vampires who survived back then."
"The truth?" Lin Ze asked.
"Primordial Vampire gave the lost Muggle thirteen drops of blood, creating the famous Thirteen Blood Clan."
"Targaryen is one of them?" Lin Ze asked.
"Yes, I haven't heard anyone mention this name for a long time... Targaryen... It seems that Mr. Lin still has a lot of energy..." Old Mulciber doesn't know whether he is complimenting or mocking.
"But what you don't know is that after Primordial Vampire was sealed, those thirteen vampires were divided among the six wizards who participated in the matter."
"Mulciber, Burke, Black, Gaunt, Longbottom, Greengrass, six people, each separated a vampire, and the remaining five huddled in the darkness and did not dare to move."
"Our Mulciber ancestors have been studying that vampire, but there has been no progress."
"When my father was studying vampires, I was already sensible. He said that if this kind of thing was Unraveling, wizards could live forever like vampires, but they would not have to bear the weaknesses of vampires. He called it a 'gift'."
"Later, the family affairs were discovered by others and Dumbledore liquidated me. My father buried my memory and saved the last flame of the family."