Chapter 656: Bad News (Patreon)
Content
Evan had dealt with both of them and had a general understanding of the strength of each of them.
In Evan’s view, on the actual combat ability, Caresius was better than Snape.
However, this was not absolute. The two of them had their own advantages in mastering spells and magic theories. The gap was not that big.
Especially in magic traps, there were many uncertain factors.
In the face of Snape's elaborate magic, it was not impossible for Caresius to get accidentally hurt.
If Snape had been more ruthless and left a few curses there, Caresius would have been a dead man by now!
“What on earth is going on?” Evan asked. “Why did you go to his office?”
"To find this thing." Caresius whispered, pulling something out of his arm and throwing it at Evan.
It was Gillyweed!
It looked like a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails, wriggling in Evan's hand.
In fact, Gillyweed is a special plant in the Mediterranean Sea. It is precious and rare, and it is a very unpopular potion ingredient. It’s hard to be found in shops of Potions and herbs, and only Potions Masters would have this plant in their store cupboards.
Evan had been looking for it for a long time without any results. At Hogwarts, only Snape had Gillyweed.
"You went to Snape's office last night to steal it?"
"Yes, this is Ron's only way to get through the second task, isn't it?! Snape probably guessed that I was going there, so he made some preparations. What a terrible guy!" Caresius sighed and glanced at Evan. "Don't look at me like this … yeah, there’s a simpler way, but I don't have time!"
Snape had been alarmed by several successive thefts from his private store cupboard.
However, the dangerous magic traps he set there were obviously not intended to deal with students.
Snape had reckoned that the man who put Ron's name into the Goblet of Fire would steal Gillyweed from his private store cupboard, and was ready to catch him.
Many people thought that Ron's name was put into the Goblet of Fire in order to kill him during the tournament.
But Snape certainly didn’t think so. He should have suspected someone had infiltrated into Hogwarts and was planning a conspiracy.
It was a very important step to make Ron a champion. It was impossible to be just to kill him.
In that case, the person hiding in the dark would definitely help Ron get through the difficulties and successfully complete the tournament.
The second task was in the lake, and only Gillyweed could give Ron the ability to breathe underwater at ease.
As for other spells, Ron couldn't master them in a short time, and Snape was well aware of this.
In the original plot, Harry got Gillyweed with Dobby’s help, and Barty Crouch Jr. did not show up.
The magic system of house-elves was different from that of wizards. Dobby could move into the store cupboard without triggering Snape's magic.
Barty Crouch Jr. was hiding in the dark, and it was clever to use others to do such a dangerous thing. In this way, he didn’t have to worry about being exposed.
Compared with him, Caresius’s action last night was too reckless. It was not a wise choice to expose himself to Snape.
Going back to check, Snape would know what was missing, as well as he would naturally know that there was something wrong with Moody.
In other words, the current identity of Caresius might be discovered at any time.
Following this line of thought, Caresius’s action was really stupid!
"Don't worry, I destroyed Snape's store cupboard before I left, took a lot of things, and left a little cover up there." said Caresius, looking at Evan’s eyes, as though guessing what he was thinking. "If he wants to know what's missing and determine my real purpose, it will take him a long time ... enough time for me ... by the way, these potions ingredients are useless for me ... they're all yours!”
He threw another cloth bag bulging with herbs to Evan. Caresius had literally robbed Snape's storage. Evan looked down and found that there were a lot of precious ingredients inside.
For example, the feather of the Jobberknoll was a necessary ingredient in Truth serums and Memory Potions. Such a feather could be sold to 500 Gold Galleons on the market, but it was still priceless. A few people would sell it, and the rarity of the Jobberknoll greatly limited the production of these two potions.
Evan also did not collect it and was reluctant to spend a lot of money to buy this precious ingredient.
Maybe such a thing would be only in Snape's private store cupboard, and nowhere else!
As long as the feather of the Jobberknoll was available, Evan could try to brew Truth serums and Memory Potions.
He casually put the bag away, raised his head and continued to look at Caresius, feeling that this guy was a bit freaky.
Normally, it would be foolish to break into Snape's office, but it seemed that Caresius did not care.
"You just said that you had no time. What do you mean? What are you going to do?" Evan continued, "I hope you can explain it well."
"Don't worry, I’ll tell you everything!" Caresius smiled. "You may not know that Barty Crouch Jr. was here last night!"
He saw that Evan didn't react, and the smile on his lips became more and more obvious.
"It looks like you already know it!" he whispered, looking at Evan with great interest. "You’re here to ask me about it, aren’t you?"
"What was Barty Crouch Jr. doing here?!" said Evan rudely. "What does this have to do with your visit to Snape’s office?"
In fact, he was a little surprised by the frankness of Caresius, and did not expect that it would be so smooth.
"Bad news," said Caresius, holding the cup in front of him. "Barty Crouch came here last night to tell me that the Dark Lord couldn't wait. He wants us to bring Harry to him as soon as possible. He needs to restore his strength as soon as possible. Under his urging, the original plan has been canceled. Barty Crouch Jr. had to take the initiative to contact me. He’s going to do it in the second task, which will take place soon!"
"He’ll act in the second task?!" asked Evan, frowning. "What is he going to do?"
"In a word, he proposed a rather bold plan, but I didn't intend to cooperate with him..." said Caresius slowly, "I refused his request. I can't risk my people’s lives, so he can only act alone. If I’m right, he should be ready to use a Portkey."