Chapter 8 – Repay Kindness with Kindness, Return Evil with Justice
The corridor was empty.
Completely empty.
This was unusual.
By all logic, the Grey family and the Aurors would have set up tight defenses here, traps waiting for her.
After all, she would come to take Momo, especially after showing her impressive apparition-based teleportation.
Hydrus moved carefully toward Momo's hospital room, maintaining a calm, composed demeanor.
Who knew if some sly Auror had cast a Disguise Charm, hiding in the shadows, waiting to catch her?
She walked naturally, opened the door naturally, and entered the room as if nothing were amiss.
The bed was empty. Momo had been taken away.
Hydrus sighed. "Fine, take her. But at least leave a clue! How am I supposed to 'trap the prey' if I don't even know where the jar is?"
It seemed she would be separated from Momo for the time being.
She had grown quite fond of the little house-elf girl.
As she opened the door, a wand was suddenly pressed against her forehead.
It was a well-maintained wand, its glassy surface gleaming like a mirror.
"Who are you, and why are you in this room?"
Of course—the Aurors were all sly tricksters. Just as she suspected, they were waiting with Disguise Charms for her to walk right into the trap.
Had she not borrowed Tonks's face, she might have been knocked unconscious already.
The Auror in front of her had dark skin, wearing a small African-style cap on his head.
Kingsley Shacklebolt—a familiar figure who had accompanied Barty Crouch on "home visits" before.
Member of the Order of the Phoenix, elite Auror, future Minister for Magic.
"I'm Nymphadora Tonks. My father is Ted Tonks. He's hospitalized here, and… I just walked into the wrong room," Hydrus said.
Kingsley looked skeptical. "Show me your father's room. I suppose you won't make a mistake this time?"
"That's hard to say," Hydrus shrugged. "All the rooms on this floor look the same. No number plates, only magical creature symbols. It's too confusing."
She pointed to the plaque on the door behind her.
"Look—four-legged magical creatures everywhere. Who can tell them apart?"
Kingsley examined the plaque—a brass base with a carved silhouette of a four-legged creature, long tail, round head. Not easy to recognize.
At that moment, the door diagonally opposite creaked open, revealing a pink-haired girl.
"Um, did someone just call my name?"
Kingsley's eyes widened like copper bells. Left to right, he looked in disbelief—how could there be two identical girls?
Ted Tonks knew he had married the youngest daughter of the Black family. Since he was a Muggle-born wizard, she had been removed from the "pure forever" Black family records.
As far as he knew, they had only one daughter.
Not twins… so… a potion?
Tonks was equally baffled.
The girl across from him—was that me? Then who was I?
Hydrus quickly organized her thoughts.
Though only thirteen, as a future Auror, she immediately spotted the issue:
The girl in front of her looked exactly like her, and wore the same clothes Hydrus had just worn!
Indeed, Hydrus was being pursued by Aurors.
And this little cousin of hers, identical to her, was also a Metamorphmagus.
Hydrus was taken aback. She had just told a lie, only to be slapped by reality.
Four words flashed in her mind:
So awkward!
"Look, Auror!"
She forced herself to speak.
"This is my father's room, isn't it?"
With that, Hydrus stepped past the still-stunned Kingsley and hurried toward Ted Tonks's room.
From Kingsley's perspective, the girl's hair changed from pink to black as she turned away.
From Ted Tonks's perspective, "Tonks" approached, her face rapidly transforming into Hydrus's.
"Don't move!"
Kingsley shouted. This girl might very well be Hydrus Lestrange!
Tonks had a look of confirmation.
Hydrus stopped, raising her hands.
"All right, all right, Auror, you caught me."
Tonks wanted to intervene, but she was completely flustered. Her cousin was only eleven—what had she done?
Then, Hydrus playfully winked at her.
Five-second cooldown! House-elf magic physiology switch!
Shhh!
Hydrus disappeared from their sight.
A few minutes later.
Audrey was cooking scrambled eggs with tomatoes in a frying pan.
Rick rarely cooked at home, so most of the kitchenware was new.
The vegetables in the fridge were almost ten days old, limp and far from fresh.
Ding!
The toast was ready. Audrey poured the tomato eggs on top and carried the creative midnight snack upstairs.
She knocked on Rick's door.
"Brother, it's almost ten. I made something for you."
Rick opened the door, surprised. The aroma hit him, and he took the plate eagerly.
"You… you made this?"
Audrey nodded. "We don't have many ingredients at home, so this is all I could do."
"Wow… oh wow…" Rick tasted it instantly. Accustomed to plain English dishes, he was captivated. "I mean… wow! This is amazing!"
Audrey accepted the praise with a sweet smile.
"I'm glad you like it! Just don't stay up too late—it's bad for your health."
"Ah… ah, okay."
Rick stood there, flustered, staring blankly as Audrey returned to her room.
Wow… I really found an angel!
But going to bed early? Impossible. Mr. Peter Waterman would be checking his progress tomorrow morning.
Tonight, at least the fourth draft of this song had to be finished!
First, though, he needed to finish this delicious dish.
It was divine.
Hydrus locked her door and plopped onto her bed.
Okay!
Rick wouldn't disturb her tonight.
No trick—she had only added a touch of Life-and-Death Water to the tomato eggs.
A powerful sleeping potion.
Hydrus prepared to return to Lestrange Manor.
Night was dark and silent.
She was going home to act as a thief on the roof!
The phrase felt weird out loud. She chuckled. The Grey family would never expect a counterattack.
Shhh!
Hydrus appeared in her room at Lestrange Manor.
Looking at the empty room, she doubted whether her apparition had worked—was she still at Rick's house?
The room was familiar, but where was her bed?
Her dressing table?
Her wardrobe?
She rushed out, stunned.
The valuable paintings, rare collections, even the wool carpets in the hallway had been taken—only the bare, unpolished wooden floors remained.
In fact, the flooring was made of agarwood—very valuable.
But she couldn't just pry it up to sell!
The Grey family would never expect a counterattack—but there was no need to worry. The entire manor had been emptied…
Grey!!
GREY!!!
GREY!!!!
Hydrus panted, fists clenched tightly.
The Grey family, since you're so ruthless, don't blame me for being merciless!
Even if you wanted to capture or kill me, I wouldn't care!
If you had left me even a little treasure to spend, I could have allowed you to survive until Voldemort returned.
But now! You dared to steal all my cute little money?
Fine, then! It's time to have some fun!
The day after tomorrow, the Lestrange family would transfer the previous month's profits from properties across the country to Gringotts.
Now, those Galleons would fall into the Grey family's hands instead of Lestrange's vault.
Hydrus planned to snatch them back as her first step in retaliating against the Greys.
Clearly, Gringotts' security was the strongest.
At least for Hydrus now, she didn't have the confidence to bypass the goblin guards and steal from the Grey vault.
So there was only one way to get the Galleons:
Intercept them midway.
Four night brooms would fly toward London from across the country.
As the eldest Lestrange daughter, she knew their flight paths and departure times.
The only problem: she couldn't fly. Not yet.
But with her ability to copy magical creatures, she had options.
As Draco Malfoy's cousin, she had spent plenty of time at the Malfoy dragon breeding grounds.
Heh heh—ever tried riding a flying carriage, counting coins, singing, and suddenly getting sprayed by dragon breath?
It was exhilarating!
Grey family, just wait!