The news Dumbledore had brought left the entire cavern in temporary silence.
Merlin's beard—hundreds upon hundreds of Inferi… what did that mean?
Inferi: corpses altered by Dark Magic. They had no life, no thought, no soul. They obeyed only their master's commands and feared fire and light… but none of that was the real point. At most, it only showed that Inferi were a relatively manageable creation, something between a dark creature and a Dark artifact.
The real point was the raw material used to make them—
Corpses.
And corpses meant people had been killed.
And hundreds upon hundreds of corpses…
Hopefully Voldemort had merely dug up a graveyard.
Avada let out a silent sigh.
This also reminded him of something: the enemy who most deserved to be destroyed had still not been fully dealt with.
I should come clean to Dumbledore about the Horcruxes as soon as possible. While I'm at it, I can borrow the ones in his possession for research. At worst, I'll let him play with the Resurrection Stone for a few days—there's no curse left on it anyway…
And then there's the most troublesome one: the fragment inside Harry. Even the technique for removing a soul fragment without harming the host is still only in its infancy. Who knows how much longer it'll take before that one can be dealt with.
I got a little too lax about the Horcruxes after capturing the diary. I need to devote more energy to them…
"Alright, everyone, get some rest as soon as you can."
Dumbledore seemed a little downcast as well, though after a short while, the smile returned to his face.
"Still, I can give you one piece of good news. Those waters should be much easier to deal with than the stone wall from before. By my estimate, you should be able to handle that task in at most three days. And considering that you already exceeded my expectations once… perhaps that time may become even shorter?"
"And after you solve the problem of the lake, I'll first gather people from various walks of life to inspect and deal with those Inferi. That will probably take about a week before it is fully concluded. Only after that will our experiment officially begin—so during that time, you'll still have to remain at Hogwarts."
"And after that, Professor?"
Rolf raised a hand to ask, "Once the experiment starts, will we be living here directly like we have been these past few days?"
"Haha, not to that extent."
Dumbledore seemed amused by the question.
"Even the most deranged scholar wouldn't spend every day soaking in a laboratory without any other life at all. You'll probably only need to set aside two or three days each week to come here as assistants. Of course, Fawkes and I will still be responsible for transporting you."
"Only two or three days?"
Hearing that, the others could not help feeling a little disappointed, though they wisely refrained from overreaching.
They still had enough self-awareness.
Although they were already the finest students in Hogwarts, even their future achievements likely would not catch up to that group of top-tier giants—much less now, when they had not even graduated yet. They probably would not understand over ninety percent of the experiment's content. Calling them assistants was already flattering them.
"Very well, then. Since I've delivered the message, I won't disturb your rest any longer."
Dumbledore lifted a hand, and Fawkes flapped onto his shoulder.
"If anyone wants to go take a look at that lake, there's no problem with doing so now. Just remember not to disturb the Inferi. Though I imagine you probably don't have the energy for that…"
"So then, an early good night to all of you."
With those words, Dumbledore vanished amid a burst of fire.
…
And so, the members of the challenge team slept straight through until noon the next day. When they emerged from their tents one by one, refreshed and full of energy, Fawkes had already left that day's food in the middle of the cavern and departed at some point unknown.
"Whew, good morning… uh, or maybe it's noon by now, everyone."
Percy scratched his head awkwardly. Ever since entering Hogwarts, he had never slept in this late.
"So, unless anyone has any objections, shall we head inside now and begin the second challenge?"
"Mhm."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
After these past several days, they had already grown used to Percy unconsciously issuing orders. It was as though it had been engraved into his brain and become part of his instincts.
And so, after a journey that began in a passage barely wide enough for one person before opening up again after several dozen paces, they finally arrived at the enormous cavern where the Horcrux was hidden…
"Whoa—"
The other six all let out long exclamations of amazement at almost the same time. Avada had no choice but to awkwardly join in with a few sounds of agreement himself.
"Merlin's beard, I'd bet Professor Dumbledore arranged all of this ages ago…"
Looking at the cavern—which had already been neatly outfitted, brightly lit, and looked more like some large workshop than anything else—the group could not help feeling that the whole thing was absurd.
This was supposedly Voldemort's greatest secret?
It didn't have even the slightest atmosphere one would expect from a dark wizard.
"Don't let your guard down."
The caution Percy had developed after years of being tormented by the twins made him the first to react, even recalling the real danger before them.
"Don't forget that the lake ahead is hiding hundreds upon hundreds of Inferi. Until we've taken proper precautions, don't touch the water. Inferi that come ashore aren't too difficult to handle, but Professor Dumbledore did ask us not to damage them if possible…"
"Wait, everyone,"
Avada started leaking spoilers again at once. "Come take a look—there seems to be an extremely well-hidden magical trace here!"
"Where?"
"Here… mm, you're right!"
"It's hidden incredibly well. I can't believe you managed to find it, Ken!"
"It doesn't seem too difficult to undo. Let me see… Penelope, could you light some fires nearby first? I'm worried we might accidentally disturb the Inferi…"
"Here… and here… found it!"
One of the students seemed to grab hold of something invisible in the air with both hands.
"Give me a hand—pull upward together!"
"This fast?"
"Coming! Hold on!"
With several of them hauling together, a thick greenish-bronze chain suddenly emerged from the depths of the lake and shot toward their fists. Then it began slipping through their fingers like a snake before coiling into a heap on the ground, clanking loudly as it struck the cavern walls and sent out a burst of ringing metallic echoes.
And as the chain drew itself upward, something seemed to be dragged out from the dark lake bottom with it—
They stared in shock as the prow of a small boat suddenly rose above the lake's surface like a ghost. It glowed with the same greenish sheen as the chain and floated toward the shore, barely disturbing the water at all.
"So this is probably the way that madman… I mean, Voldemort left for himself to cross the lake?"
Someone tapped on the side of the boat with open suspicion.
"Doesn't it feel a little too crude?"
"No, there's something hidden inside this boat."
Before Avada could start spoiling things again, Percy was the first to keenly notice the anomaly. After a brief pause, the others quickly caught on as well.
"Oh, right, this magic… It looks like this boat can only carry a certain amount of spiritual power?"
(End of Chapter)