The location wasn't far from Hogwarts; on foot, it would take two or three days.
Spotting the three figures, Rey immediately crouched low, flattening himself against the rock.
The sparse forest below was actually a large sunken valley. Normal travelers would never pass through here.
Rey had only arrived atop this massive rock thanks to Apparition; otherwise, he never would have discovered people in this secluded valley.
They seemed to be discussing something, but the distance made their voices indistinct.
"Sonorus Auditio!"
Rey drew his wand, pointed it at a small withered tree near the group, and cast an eavesdropping spell.
The principle of this spell was simple: using the withered tree as a medium, and with the caster focusing their mind, they could hear sounds within a five-meter radius of the tree.
It was a very practical spell, but the range was limited to within a hundred meters, and it required the wizard's undivided attention.
Once the spell was cast, the withered tree trembled slightly, emitting a barely audible sound. Yet, even this faint noise caused the earless old man to glance over in surprise.
Fortunately, the sound was extremely soft, and at that moment, a rat scurried out of a hole beneath the tree.
"Damn rat. Avada Kedavra!" Seeing the rat, the earless old man pulled out his wand in annoyance and fired.
A flash of green light, a squeak, and the rat fell dead. A sharp, ruthless attack, executed with precision. The rat was small, but hitting it in one shot proved the old man's formidable skill.
"Damned rat. Disgusting meat, impossible to swallow."
The earless old man roared in a raspy voice. After killing the rat, he rolled his eyes back, staring at the two men behind him with a crazed expression. It was as if they were the rats that deserved killing. This startled the two men, causing them to stumble back a couple of steps.
"Have you found any? Fewer and fewer children with magic are appearing these days. Do you two still want to live?"
His voice grated like broken porcelain, his words disjointed. Rey couldn't make sense of it. But the other two trembled, as if the statement struck fear into their hearts.
"We heard... the Four Founders built a school..."
"There should be... quite a few children there..."
The two terrified men stammered. The one-legged man glanced at the earless elder, and seeing his expression hadn't turned colder, continued, "That school... maybe we could target it..."
Smack!
A crisp sound echoed as the earless old man slapped the one-legged man across the face. Simultaneously, he kicked him to the ground, pointing his wand at him. "You want me to go up against the Four Founders directly? Do you think I've lived too long?"
Caught off guard, the one-legged man fell back, shielding his face with his hands, trembling as he loudly defended himself, "No, no, you misunderstand! I meant reporting this matter to Bishop Aroffman of the Inquisition..."
The earless old man's wand twitched, scaring the man on the ground half to death. But then, the old man burst into laughter. "That's a good idea. The Church wants children, and the Four Founders have the most. We can't touch them, but for a behemoth like the Church, even the Four Founders might be a bit weak.
"Get up... you useless trash. If we're going to report to the Bishop, we need something concrete. Like... the person eavesdropping on us right now."
Mid-sentence, the old man suddenly spun around, aiming at the withered tree Rey had targeted. A blast of magic erupted, and the small tree was instantly blown in two.
"Find the eavesdropper immediately!" the earless old man barked. The other two paused for a beat, then scattered to search.
The Sonorus Auditio spell had a range limit of a hundred meters, meaning the eavesdropper had to be close. By blasting the tree, the old man intended to inflict a severe mental shock on the spy, drastically reducing their mobility for at least a few dozen seconds.
---
The old man's sudden attack on the tree caught Rey off guard, but his reactions were fast, and he severed the mental link just in time. Aside from a ringing in his ears, his mind remained unharmed.
He didn't know how the old man had detected the spell, but in his current state, he clearly couldn't focus enough to Apparate away.
Rey lay motionless atop the massive rock. This was the highest point; lying flat here made him nearly invisible to anyone in the sunken valley below.
Moreover, only the withered tree had been discovered; the three men didn't know where the eavesdropper was. If Rey stood up to run now, he would be painting a target on his back—literally looking for death.
The three men searched the valley frantically before regrouping.
The earless old man frowned, looking again at the tree he had blasted apart. He was now somewhat uncertain if anyone had actually been eavesdropping.
He had only been suspicious. If someone had been listening, destroying the medium should have damaged their mind.
A sudden mental injury would inevitably cause a scream of pain. Even if the spy could endure it, there should have been signs of a hasty retreat.
But now, there was no movement, no scream. It seemed he had been paranoid. The initial tremor of the tree really must have been caused by that damn rat.
Finding no one, the three men exchanged a few words and left the valley.
Rey lay on the rock. The ringing in his ears had subsided, but he still felt uncomfortable. The sound, like a firecracker exploding next to his ear, had left his eardrums aching.
After waiting for a long while, Rey peeked into the valley. Seeing the three mysterious men were gone, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Eavesdropping was a technical skill; wizards had many methods to do it, but just as many to defend against it. Magic was weird like that; getting caught wasn't entirely unexpected.
But the content Rey overheard was huge.
The Church—that behemoth that encouraged the populace to hunt wizards—was planning to move directly against Hogwarts. Wizards were the Church's enemies, and an "unruly" magical school like Hogwarts was a thorn that had to be plucked.
Shaking his still-buzzing head, Rey knew his priority was to return to Hogwarts and warn them.
However, things are rarely that smooth, and his opponents weren't complete idiots. Although only suspicious, the three men hadn't left. They had laid a trap, pretending to leave to lure him out.
Just as Rey stood up to Apparate, the earless old man flashed out from behind a large tree in the valley and fired a Blasting Curse at the rock Rey was standing on.
The bright red light of the curse hit the rock and exploded, interrupting Rey's concentration.
Stone fragments flew everywhere. Rey squeezed his eyes shut and leaped backward. In his shock, he waved his wand at the ground below him.
The sparse dry leaves and twigs on the ground gathered together, cushioning his fall. But before he could regain his balance, a ball of magical energy shot toward him from the left.
It was the one-handed wizard attacking.
Rey twisted to the left, his wand hand sweeping in a circular motion in front of him. The movement created a temporary arc-shaped shield, deflecting the incoming energy bolt to the side.
Two attackers revealed. There had to be a third.
The earless old man attacked from the front, the one-handed man from the left; the third was either to the right or behind him.
Regardless of their position or strength, Rey was surrounded. He decisively dropped to the ground and executed a series of rolls.
Thud, thud, thud!
The ground where he had just been exploded, sending dirt flying. Continuous magical attacks rained down, specifically targeting his legs.
"They want to capture me alive."
Rey realized their motive instantly.
In a disadvantageous battle, knowing the enemy's intent and attack patterns is the key to turning the tables.
Since they wanted him alive, he could afford to be bolder.
Rey raised his wand above his head, drawing a circle around himself. The resulting shield deflected the incoming barrage of spells from two directions perfectly.
Seizing a brief gap in the assault, he pointed his wand at the ground. "Fumos!"
Thick smoke erupted from the point of his wand. Outnumbered, obscuring their vision to facilitate a counterattack was the correct choice.
Although Rey didn't know many high-level spells, three years of honing his basic magic had given him significant combat proficiency. Combined effectively, his combat power exceeded that of average Intermediate Wizards.
However, just as the smoke rose, whoosh, whoosh—several spells pierced through the mist.
Rey sidestepped, dodging the first two, but the third hit his left shoulder.
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