Douglas wasted no time—he yanked Sirius off the speedboat and declared, "Stop messing about, Sirius. He's the only one fit for the job. We need him to lure all the Inferi over so we can handle them together. Then we can search for Regulus's body in peace. Besides, his magic's the weakest among us..."
Sirius hesitated, but at last barked an order at Kreacher. No matter how much the elf grumbled, the twin forces of Sirius's command and his own yearning to find Regulus's remains drove him, sulking, onto the speedboat.
As soon as Kreacher sat down, a sly smile tugged at Douglas' lips. "Kreacher, hold tight to the rails! Activate cruise mode!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the boat roared to life, zipping across the lake in a wide arc.
Wherever the speedboat passed, scores of Inferi erupted from the water, clawing hungrily toward it. But the boat seemed to have a mind of its own, weaving and dodging with uncanny precision. Kreacher clung on for dear life, unable to control the vessel in the slightest. The cave rang with his anguished wails and a torrent of curses—especially the word "mudblood" echoing off the stone.
Catching the others' astonished looks, Douglas explained, "Muggle technology—voice-activated controls. That's why you can't sense any magic. Just give the right command and the boat follows its pre-set route... Enough chatter. In about three minutes, the speedboat will have every Inferius in the lake right where we want them.
Our job is to destroy some Inferi and trap the rest. Dobby, find a spot on the lakebed clear of Inferi and set up the magic circle I taught you.
The three of us will deal with the Inferi leaping across the surface. Those are the strong ones—they're not worth keeping around."
They watched as a horde of Inferi surged behind the boat, some vaulting from the water like monstrous flying fish.
Douglas's plan unfolded seamlessly. Dobby dove beneath the surface, working quickly to set the magic circle. Dumbledore watched with keen interest, noticing the runes Dobby used weren't quite what he'd expected.
"Those runes... they look a bit like ancient goblin script, but stronger, somehow. Douglas, is this your invention, or did Mr. Dobby learn it himself? House-elves aren't supposed to have access to this kind of knowledge—goblins are notoriously secretive with their magic."
Douglas just shrugged, offering no answer. Instead, he drew his wand and began chanting, pointing to the cavern's ceiling. Under their gaze, clouds began to gather overhead...
The others drew their own wands, fanning out, readying their spells.
By the time the speedboat had circled the island three times, Dobby burst from the lake, the ceiling now heavy with thunderclouds and the air thick with an icy, oppressive chill.
As the boat neared the shore, a tidal wave of Inferi swept after it. For a moment, the group felt a crushing pressure unlike anything before.
The instant the boat hit land, everyone sprang into action.
Dobby activated the magic circle on the lakebed. It snapped shut like a net—Inferi who entered were trapped, no matter how they thrashed.
Bolts of lightning speared down from the clouds. When one struck an Inferius, the current leapt from corpse to corpse, weaving a deadly net of electricity. The Inferi were caught, unable to escape.
At the same time, a sharp crack sounded from the tip of Dumbledore's wand—a colossal firebird burst forth, circling the Inferi. Any corpse it grazed was instantly reduced to ash.
Watching this, Douglas winced in pain for the "wasted" dark artifacts. He quickly fished a tiny object from his pocket and tossed it high into the air.
At that moment, the lightning above seemed magnetically drawn to the object, striking it in a cascade. The arcs branched and spread across the cavern ceiling like a growing tree.
The object expanded as it fell, revealing itself to be a massive stone monument, inscribed with three ancient Eastern characters.
The monument drifted downward, and as it neared the lake, the Inferi suddenly seemed crushed by an invisible force, dropping into the water en masse. Just then, Sirius and Lupin cast a massive Freezing Charm together, and the lake's surface began to freeze over with a thick sheet of ice.
The result was spectacular: Inferi slammed into the ice, some frozen solid, others shattering into pieces.
Douglas couldn't help but grimace. These days, what's more precious than rare Dark artifacts? And here they were, going to waste—didn't anyone know how to recycle?
But as the monument descended, the ice began to crack. Under its oppressive weight, the remaining Inferi plunged into the depths. When the monument finally settled on the lakebed, it released a web of electric arcs, bathing the bottom in a ghostly blue glow.
Above, only shards of ice, the soaring firebird, and stray flashes of lightning remained.
Sirius called out, "Douglas, what on earth is that thing? Why haven't you ever mentioned it?"
The others stowed their wands, eyeing Douglas with curiosity.
Just as Douglas was about to spin a tale about the monument's origins, a shriek from Kreacher drew everyone's gaze.
Seeing the Inferi stilled, and the others lowering their wands, Kreacher crept toward the water. But the moment his hand touched the surface, a powerful current sent him flying into the rock wall.
No one moved—except Dobby, who hurriedly produced a tiny porcelain bottle, tipped out a single pill, and gently fed it to Kreacher. He then pulled out a notebook, calmly observing and recording Kreacher's condition.
Dumbledore watched this, then glanced at Douglas. Suddenly, he understood: it wasn't just Douglas's Muggle background that bred all these wild ideas—it was his relentless curiosity and drive for progress.
Douglas finally spoke, "That's a Soul-Suppressing Monument. I modeled it after Eastern magic, using stone from Mount Tai. It's a magical artifact, and its greatest strength is suppressing dark things—zombies, Inferi, ghosts, you name it."
Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He suddenly realized: if Douglas ever brought that thing to Hogwarts, every ghost in the castle would end up trapped in the dungeons. He even wondered if the legendary tower that once imprisoned Peeves worked on the same principle.
Watching the arcs at the lakebed gradually fade, Douglas continued, "Of course, it does more than just suppress Inferi... but let's save that surprise for later. Once the lightning dies down, we can safely search the lakebed for Regulus's remains."
The cavern was now utterly changed. The sticky darkness had been shattered by two mighty spells. In the blue glow of the monument's lightning, the center of the lake was clearly visible.
A smooth rocky islet, about the size of an office, stood there. Atop it sat a stone slab and a basin with a pedestal. The green glow emanated from within.
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