"Keep a closer watch these next two days. Even though we're withdrawing soon, we can't afford to get careless in these final moments." Looking at the sentry lounging carelessly on the ground, a patrolling elder couldn't help but offer some advice.
Hearing the old man's words, the young sentry stood up with obvious irritation.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
After the elder walked away, the young guard watched his retreating figure and muttered under his breath:
"We're pulling out in two or three days anyway. How could anyone possibly discover this place?"
"But why hasn't that big guy returned yet? I was planning to have it help hunt some game... Hmm?"
The young man's attention suddenly sharpened as he glanced around. He felt like an unusual breeze had blown past, but when he looked carefully, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Must be because his nerves have been too tense lately—he'll need to relax properly after returning to civilisation.
Speaking of which, in this remote mountain forest with defensive traps set up around the perimeter, what was there really to guard against anyway?
Would Aurors actually come all the way out here to catch them? Ridiculous!
Watching the middle-aged man settle back down to resume his lazy watch, Harry remained perfectly still beneath his invisibility cloak and slowly released a breath of relief.
He'd walked a bit too hurriedly just moments ago and hadn't noticed the telltale wind disturbance created by the moving cloak. Fortunately, the guard hadn't caught on to this small—but potentially fatal—mistake.
Wearing the invisibility cloak like a protective shroud, Harry moved carefully through the centre of the camp. Ahead of him, faint paw prints would occasionally appear in the dirt before vanishing again. The little black cat had also turned invisible and was scouting ahead alongside Harry.
Their mission was to establish communication with the captured magical creatures. As long as they could coordinate effectively, when George and Fred created their planned chaos, they could work together from both inside and outside the camp's defences.
The most difficult part of the infiltration was already complete. According to Professor Kahn's reconnaissance, there were no guards posted near the cages holding the magical creatures. Harry just needed to make contact with that Demiguise to easily complete the subsequent phases of their rescue plan.
Following the route they had carefully calculated before entering enemy territory, Harry and the little black cat moved stealthily through the camp. Rough laughter occasionally erupted from nearby tents, making Harry's nerves increasingly taut with each passing second.
Fortunately, the camp wasn't particularly large. Before long, they reached the storage area where the cages were kept.
In a cramped space were piled nearly a hundred cages of various sizes. All manner of rare magical creatures had been stuffed into enclosures that clearly hadn't been cleaned in weeks, with only some crude food scraps and stagnant water provided for sustenance. The entire area reeked with an overwhelming stench of neglect and suffering.
Among those miserable cages, Harry immediately spotted their primary target.
It was a large beast collapsed on the cage floor, grey-bodied and resembling a massive wild boar but much larger in overall size. Its body was covered with wounds of varying severity, and an intricately patterned shackle had been bound between its two front legs. This restraint was precisely what prevented the creature from accessing its natural invisibility abilities.
Moving close to the cage, Harry drew his wand and aimed at the lock securing the door.
"Alohomora!"
His wand tip glowed with faint light, but the lock before him remained completely motionless.
This outcome didn't surprise Harry in the least. Experienced wizards generally added Anti-Alohomora Charms to important security measures, especially cages belonging to professional poachers like these.
However, they weren't without alternative preparations. Hermione had provided them with a specialised potion capable of corroding both magical enchantments and metal components. Just pour it on the cage door to neutralise the Anti-Alohomora Charm entirely.
Unfortunately, they possessed only one bottle of such precious liquid. It had to be used where it would count most.
After observing their surroundings carefully, Harry called softly to the beast lying motionless in the cage:
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Hearing the unexpected voice, the creature collapsed on the ground, weakly opened its eyes, looked toward the apparently empty cage door, and displayed obvious confusion.
Noticing the beast's bewilderment, Harry quietly lifted a corner of the invisibility cloak while the little black cat beside him also briefly revealed her spectral form.
"We're here to rescue you. Are you injured badly?"
The Demiguise's response came as a weak mental projection that only the little black cat could interpret.
"Do I look alright to you?" She translated with obvious indignation on the creature's behalf.
Hearing this translation, Harry's expression grew increasingly grave.
Originally, their plan had been to gain this Demiguise's cooperation, free it from captivity, and have the powerful creature help break open other cages to liberate additional magical creatures during the chaos.
But seeing its current weakened state, the beast might not possess the strength to complete this crucial plan.
Still, with a determined try-anything attitude, Harry explained their rescue strategy in detail.
"The plan sounds reasonable, but you've missed one critical factor," the little black cat simultaneously interpreted the beast's response. "This shackle doesn't just suppress my invisibility abilities. It also severely inhibits my physical strength. In my current condition, I have no ability to break through this cage, much less help you break open the others."
"I have a potion that can corrode both magical power and metal components..." Harry began, then his eyes suddenly brightened as his gaze fell upon the beast's front legs.
He had originally planned to use this precious potion to corrode the cage door itself, but if that restraining shackle was the real culprit behind the beast's helpless condition, perhaps he could choose a different target for the corrosive treatment?
Taking out the medicine bottle from beneath his robes, Harry examined the cage restraining the beast and compared the gaps between the iron bars. His heart leapt with sudden hope.
Perhaps because of the Demiguise's considerable size, the cage used to hold it featured much wider spacing than the others. While this spacing wasn't sufficient for a human to pass through, allowing small animals to squeeze between the bars shouldn't present any major difficulties.
"Little Black, can you carry the potion and squeeze through those cage gaps?"
"I'll try, meow!"
After several tense moments, the little black cat's voice came again with obvious satisfaction.
"I can do it, meow!"
Delighted by this breakthrough, Harry prepared to hand the precious potion to his spectral companion. But just then, his entire body suddenly stiffened with alarm, because a confused voice came from dangerously close by.
"What's that strange noise over there?"
Not far away on a pile of elevated rocks, Percy gripped the binoculars Professor Kahn had lent him earlier, watching the camp situation unfold with increasingly grave concern.
"Harry's situation might be deteriorating rapidly."
Earlier, when he'd observed that sentry patrol moving closer to the cage area, he'd experienced an ominous premonition. Now that the guard had actually stopped beside the magical creature enclosures, Harry had very likely made some small noise that had attracted unwanted attention.
Although their friend hadn't been discovered yet, having a sentry notice something abnormal couldn't simply be ignored or dismissed.
This development was becoming genuinely troublesome.
"Do we need to launch our diversion early?" Fred's expression carried obvious excitement mixed with nervous energy. "I can't wait much longer to get started!"
"No, our preliminary setup isn't finished yet. Starting the chaos now won't achieve the coordinated effect we envisioned, and won't be sufficient to throw those dark wizards into complete disarray." After Percy explained his reasoning, he called toward their rear position: "Wood, how are things progressing on your end?"
"Almost ready!" Wood's voice carried back from the distance with confident determination. "Don't worry about my part. As long as we can release those Fire Salamanders at precisely the right moment, we'll definitely give those dark wizards an absolutely unforgettable 'fireworks' show!"