Victor Wick stood by the window as the white hummingbird in his hand slowly dissolved.
"I actually lost him?" A look of surprise flickered across Victor's face.
It was true that he had let Regulus go, but that didn't mean he intended to ignore his future movements entirely.
Until their misunderstanding was resolved, Regulus could strike out at any of the Death Eaters who had remained at large at any moment.
He couldn't allow Regulus to do that...
Of course, Victor didn't want to protect those bastards who had escaped justice; rather, the one he wanted to protect was Regulus himself.
If Regulus actually killed a former Death Eater or two—someone like Lucius Malfoy—he would be in deep trouble.
Even if Victor wanted to shield him then, it wouldn't be simple.
Victor frowned, staring out at the hazy, gray sky...
Suddenly, there was movement behind him.
"You're awake," Victor said, turning around.
Dorcas Meadowes was currently legacy-frowning, rubbing her temples as she struggled to get out of bed.
"Where is this? You... why are you here? What happened?" Dorcas felt as if her mind was a total blank.
"You were ambushed. This is a hotel in a Muggle neighborhood. I'm sorry... I'm the one who dragged you into this." Victor walked over and poured her a cup of hot chocolate. "The Imperius Curse is never easy to recover from once it's lifted. Drink this; it'll help."
"The Imperius Curse..." Dorcas's eyes sharpened. "Who did it?"
Her memory hadn't been erased; she actually remembered everything that had occurred after she was cursed.
Dorcas remembered that after leaving Hogsmeade, she had been somewhat distracted and was blindsided by a man using the Imperius Curse...
However, she didn't recognize the man who had cast it on her.
Yet, despite not knowing him, he had controlled her to threaten Victor...
Looking at her sharp gaze, Victor felt for a moment like he was seeing that steadfast warrior goddess of the Order of the Phoenix again.
A woman so powerful that even Voldemort had felt compelled to deal with her personally...
"Do you remember the Death Eater hideout in Wiltshire I had you all help me clear out?" Victor sat down on a nearby chair, looking somewhat melancholic.
"You mean... the one connected to those traitors in the Ministry?"
"Yes. Back then, I had you take out that hideout first and kill the key contact. Only then could I brazenly kill those Aurors in front of the Dark Lord..."
Those Aurors were traitors, and the intelligence they passed through a certain Death Eater had been intercepted by Victor.
Upon learning that those traitors only had a single point of contact, Victor sent the intelligence to the Order of the Phoenix to wipe out the hideout, disposing of the Death Eater who knew their identities as well.
Only then did Victor execute those captured, gagged Aurors right in front of the Dark Lord.
No one knew those Aurors were actually Death Eater moles; they only knew Victor was loyal to the Dark Lord and showed no mercy when killing Aurors.
Regulus, who was already deeply disillusioned with the Death Eaters, naturally witnessed Victor's perfect 'performance'...
It was because Regulus had seen Victor's 'brutality' with his own eyes that things had reached this stage.
It couldn't be helped...
If it were him, having seen those things, he would never have easily believed such a person was a hero either.
With Victor's explanation, Dorcas finally understood Regulus's identity and motives.
"I'll help you find him," Dorcas said, draining the hot chocolate and standing up.
"No... this has nothing to do with you. He was coming for me anyway." Victor caught her arm.
"Of course it has to do with me!" A stubborn glint flashed in Dorcas's eyes. "He doesn't know the truth about what happened back then, so it's natural for him to misunderstand you. But I was a witness to those events! I know you want to protect him and clear the air, but you have to find him first. Besides... he dared to use the Imperius Curse on me! How dare he!"
Had Dorcas not been distracted while leaving Hogsmeade, it wouldn't have been so easy for Regulus to ambush her.
Dorcas had been incredibly powerful back then; in fact, much of Victor's combat experience from his weaker days had been learned from her.
"Tell me where he disappeared. I know you—you wouldn't have let him leave without taking some sort of precaution." Dorcas looked at Victor steadily.
In truth, even without this event, she needed something to do to distract herself.
Victor saw the look in her eyes and finally let go of her arm.
"He disappeared at Grimmauld Place... He might have entered a safe house protected by the Fidelius Charm," Victor said softly.
A safe house protected by the Fidelius Charm could only be found if the Secret-Keeper personally shared the address or brought someone there.
Otherwise, even if you knew the exact house number, you would never find the location.
The only reason Voldemort found the Potters was because Peter Pettigrew, the Secret-Keeper, told him the address personally...
Victor had only sent his Patronus to track Regulus, so he naturally couldn't see where the safe house was.
Dorcas walked to the door, pausing before she opened it. "I understand your concerns... you're afraid something like today will happen again... but I want to tell you, I'm not as fragile as you think!"
Victor watched the door close, his expression complex.
It was already night by the time Victor returned to Hogwarts.
He used the two-way mirror to report the day's events to Dumbledore, emphasizing Regulus's desire to find his way back.
Dumbledore agreed with Victor's plan to protect Regulus. After all, Victor had previously reported that there was a potential defector, even if Dumbledore hadn't known it was Regulus at the time.
Victor put away the mirror and breathed a sigh of relief... It made sense; if Dumbledore was willing to go to such lengths for someone like Snape, who defected so late, he would certainly do the same for Regulus, who knew the secret to Voldemort's immortality.
Now, their primary task was to find Regulus quickly and get the critical intelligence from him.
Of course, he couldn't neglect the Philosopher's Stone. If nothing came of the search for Regulus, Victor could still use the fake stone to bait information from the Dark Lord.
At this thought, Victor opened his operating system and accessed the Hogwarts server with practiced ease.
Since obtaining partial administrator rights for Hogwarts, he had never stopped monitoring Quirrell and Voldemort.
Victor skillfully navigated the system, searching for Quirrell's trail within the castle.
Finally, near the dungeons, he spotted Quirrell's hurried figure through the eyes of a certain oil painting.
Victor found it rather strange.
Since he had laid his cards on the table with Quirrell, the man had been quite well-behaved.
Aside from going to class, he spent the rest of his time in his room and rarely stepped foot outside.
Why was he out today, and why was he heading for the dungeons?
For historical reasons, Hogwarts did indeed have dungeons.
However, they were so remote and gloomy that even the Slytherins who lived nearby wouldn't go there.
Victor followed Quirrell with curiosity, but after a corner, he temporarily lost sight of him.
There seemed to be no paintings in the dungeon...
Victor exited the painting-control module and pulled out his keyboard, tapping lightly.
Before long, a three-dimensional image of all of Hogwarts appeared in Victor's mind.
Through this image, Victor could see the Hogwarts students sleeping in their respective dormitories. He couldn't see them clearly, only their blurred outlines.
Victor focused his gaze on the area near the dungeons. Sure enough, a blurred outline was still moving—it had to be Quirrell.
Soon, Quirrell entered the dungeon and stopped in front of a large cell door.
Victor zoomed in on the image and discovered a massive creature locked inside that cell!
"That should be a troll... When Dumbledore asked them to help set up the defenses for the stone, Quirrell was supposed to provide a troll... Could it be this one? No... that's impossible."
Victor rubbed his chin, his mind racing.
Right now, although the fake stone wasn't in place and the mirror in the stone chamber had been borrowed by him for research, the defensive layers designed by the professors were already set up.
In other words, the troll Quirrell had prepared to guard the stone couldn't possibly still be in the dungeons.
That meant he had prepared a new troll...
Preparing a new troll... he was clearly planning to cause trouble...
It seemed the cautious and suspicious Dark Lord was having another crisis of trust regarding him...
"Have I appeared too powerful lately, making him feel uneasy?"
"Hmm... that certainly fits the Dark Lord's character."
While Victor was thinking, Quirrell's outline in the image lingered in front of the troll for a while before turning to leave.
Victor's gaze didn't follow Quirrell. Instead, he zoomed in on the door of the cell holding the troll...
Although it was only a 3D image and he couldn't see exactly what was there, there seemed to be a subtle magical fluctuation on that cell door.
Magical fluctuations at the door weren't surprising; after all, you couldn't use an ordinary door to contain a creature like a troll.
But... this fluctuation was new; it hadn't been there before Quirrell arrived.
Moreover, this magic didn't resemble the sealing spells Victor was familiar with. Instead, it felt more like a magical trap...
Setting a trap at the door?
Now that was interesting...
Victor turned his attention back to Quirrell's outline and found him heading toward the castle entrance.
"He's quite busy tonight..."
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