Death's Invisibility Cloak. The item requested by the third brother from Death in The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
He was the only one of the three brothers who greeted Death as an old friend and died of old age.
Rey knew the story of Death and the Three Brothers not only from the movies in his past life but also from seeing it in this life, displayed on the water mirror in the underground palace of Death.
Rey could still recall the details of Death handing the items to the three men. It was at that precise moment that the power of Death re-entered the mortal world.
However, Rey felt certain he had seen something else in that water mirror.
Something incredibly important, yet he couldn't recall it no matter how hard he tried.
Whenever he tried to focus on that part of his memory, he found only a dark, empty void. Rey didn't understand what was wrong with him.
With Death's Invisibility Cloak, they could indeed achieve what Helena proposed.
As long as they didn't make too much noise, the dragon naturally wouldn't detect them. Sneaking into the dragon's territory to see what it looked like and grab a few gems seemed entirely plausible.
---
Children often act without considering the consequences because their understanding of danger is incomplete.
Helena and Terence were no exception. After roping Rey in, the three of them stealthily slipped out of Godric's Hollow.
While the trio clumsily made their way toward the Forbidden Forest, the four Founders were in their tent, discussing how to resolve the Black Dragon problem without starting a full-scale war.
Godric Gryffindor knew some Draconic, so he translated and explained the dragon's two sentences to the others.
The first sentence: Human, you still wish to challenge me? This needed no explanation; the dragon's arrogant aura and Godric's expression made the meaning clear enough.
The second sentence: Then you should leave this place. Do not hinder my mission again.
It was short, but the key lay in the word "mission."
"Are you sure you didn't translate it wrong?"
Helga Hufflepuff asked. The question embarrassed Godric slightly. His Draconic was elementary at best. To confirm with absolute certainty that there was no translation error... well, he wasn't exactly confident.
Records of Draconic in the wizarding world were scarce. Godric only knew a little because of a serendipitous encounter in his youth, where he found a stone tablet with a basic primer on Draconic and human language.
However, that place was on a small island, and the tablet might have sunk into the sea long ago.
"If Rowena had seen that stone tablet, I believe she could have deduced the advanced language from the basic version," Helga said regretfully after learning about Godric's history with Draconic.
Godric raised an eyebrow. Although Helga's words stung a little, she was right. If Rowena had been the one to have that encounter, she probably would be a professor of Draconic by now.
Rowena smiled at Helga's roundabout compliment.
After pondering for a while, she looked up and said, "How about I take a trip to the Hebrides? The ancient MacFusty clan there has always looked after the local black dragons. They might have information regarding the 'mission' of the True Dragon Race."
"MacFusty... Why does that family name give me a feeling? That kid, Rey Faest—does he have some connection to them?"
Salazar voiced a suspicion after hearing Rowena's suggestion. It was just a gut feeling.
MacFusty and Faest. The surnames were similar enough to draw a connection.
When Rey bought his wand at Ollivander's, the wandmaker had also been reminded of the MacFusty clan by Rey's surname.
"Then let's take him along. Since the little guy is the 'Warthog' in my dream, he should play a key role in resolving this Black Dragon issue."
The four agreed on a plan. Rowena and Helga would take Rey to the Hebrides to visit the ancient clan, hoping to find detailed information on black dragons.
Salazar and Godric would travel to the island of Godric's youth to see if they could retrieve the stone tablet with the Draconic script and search for others nearby.
However, when they split up to prepare, Rowena couldn't find Rey. Even her own daughter, Helena, was missing.
They were teenagers and wizards, so Rowena didn't usually restrict their movements.
As long as they weren't stupid enough to do something incredibly risky—like going to Muggle London or exploring the Black Dragon's cave—safety shouldn't be an issue.
Since neither child was in Godric's Hollow, Rowena didn't overthink it.
With Rey missing, Rowena and Helga decided to head to the Hebrides alone. They could scout the area first. If Rey truly had a connection to the MacFusty clan, they could bring him for a visit later.
---
The Hebrides Islands, located off the west coast of Scotland.
Dozens of islands of varying sizes were scattered across the ocean, forming an archipelago.
The main island, located in the center of the group, was vast, covering over four thousand square kilometers.
Hebridean Black Dragons were a rare species distributed across the archipelago. The islands' natural environment supported plenty of wild cattle and sheep, so food was never an issue for the dragons.
The MacFusty family residence was located on the main island in the center of the archipelago.
Rowena and Helga arrived by small boat. For witches of their caliber, navigating the open sea in a small craft was trivial.
Apparition only works for places one has visited; if you haven't been there and can't visualize the destination, you can't Apparate.
Rowena and Helga docked at the main island and proceeded on foot. They chose to walk as a sign of respect for their first visit.
The weather today was shrouded in a hazy, dark mist, unlike the usual sunny calmness.
Such weather was rare for the island, seen perhaps only a few times a year.
Rowena and Helga passed through a forest and arrived at the vast grassland in the island's center.
The MacFusty manor sat at the northern end of the grassland, backed by a sheer cliff.
The manor faced the grassland, was flanked by forests, and had the cliff behind it. The scenery was spectacular from every angle.
"Truly a family that knows how to pick a location," Helga laughed. Living in such a place would indeed be enjoyable.
"Our Hogwarts won't be inferior to this. Originally, we only had the mountains, not the water. But after Godric challenged the dragon, we gained a lake. Mountains and water—that is the ideal location for Hogwarts."
Rowena spoke calmly with a smile. She had been satisfied when she first visited the Forbidden Forest. Now, with the addition of the lake, it was perfect.
---
The hazy dark mist made the manor ahead appear to drift in and out of existence.
"Hey, Helga. Do you sense it?"
Walking through the grassland, Rowena frowned slightly.
"Yes, I noticed. Besides the smell of grass, the air carries the pungent scent of garlic."
The smell of garlic on a grassland gave them both a strange feeling.
It wasn't overpowering, but it was definitely there.
Especially after they noticed the scent, Rowena and Helga began to spot cloves of garlic scattered amidst the grass along their path.
They had crossed a third of the grassland, and the closer they got to the manor, the heavier the smell of garlic became.
"There should be cattle and sheep on this grassland!"
"Yes, there should be. And it's still early in the day; the livestock wouldn't have been penned up this early."
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