Chapter 386 - 387: I want to see exactly what you are

Early in the morning, as the still-drowsy Hogwarts students entered the Entrance Hall, several observant Ravenclaw students stopped at the same time.

"Isn't there... an extra step here?" a girl asked in confusion, tapping the ground with the tip of her shoe.

Indeed, at the familiar entrance to the hall, a pale stone step had inexplicably appeared.

It blended seamlessly with the other steps, as though it had always been there and simply gone unnoticed.

The surface of the stone was unusually smooth, gleaming with a cold lustre in the morning light.

At the same time, Sagres slipped into the kitchen alone, where the house-elves cheerfully served him breakfast.

He leisurely ate his toast until a familiar figure timidly approached him.

"Esteemed sir..."

Dobby's large eyes were filled with awe.

"Dobby heard... heard that sir last night..."

Sagres put down his teacup and smiled slightly at Dobby.

"Yes, Dobby."

Dobby's ears trembled with excitement, and he bowed deeply, almost touching the ground with his long nose.

"Sir is a great wizard!"

Sagres merely smiled without comment.

After a simple breakfast, he slowly made his way towards his office.

A night of intense fighting had left him more exhausted than ever before. The excessive drain on his magic still caused a faint tingling in his fingertips.

He did not want to use any more magic now. He only wanted a good sleep.

However, when he arrived at the door to his office, some of his drowsiness faded.

The heavy oak door was covered in graffiti of various colours, including crooked skulls, screaming young wizards, and a burning castle.

Most conspicuous of all was a line of large letters written in crimson paint:

"You will pay, you tyrant, you devil!"

Sagres's brow furrowed slightly before smoothing out again.

He recalled the destruction of the Duelling Platform. Peeves had probably regained his freedom to wreak havoc throughout the castle during the chaos.

The scene before him was most likely another way for the mischievous poltergeist to vent his dissatisfaction with Sagres.

"Scourgify."

He murmured the incantation and lightly tapped the door with his wand.

The stains vanished instantly.

Just as he pushed the door open, a greyish-brown owl flapped down onto the windowsill and anxiously tapped its beak against the glass.

Sagres opened the window. The owl immediately dropped a letter into his hand before flying away without looking back, as though remaining for even another second would bring bad luck.

The envelope was made of expensive parchment and sealed with an intricate crest: a serpent coiled around a sword, the emblem of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Sagres tore open the letter and quickly scanned the neat but impersonal writing.

~~~

To Mr Sagres Greengrass:

In light of the significant magical incident that occurred last night in the Muggle village of Little Hangleton, as well as the deaths of Mr Barty Crouch Sr., Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, former Death Eater Rosier Nott, and others, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement requires your presence for questioning today at 3:00 p.m.

Please be advised that the unauthorised execution of suspects in custody without trial constitutes a serious violation of Article 37 of the Wizarding Code.

Furthermore, a reasonable explanation is required regarding your unauthorised use of unregistered ancient magic.

Sincerely,

Amelia Bones

Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

~~~

Sagres calmly folded the letter and set it aside, having already decided to ignore the official summons.

Outside the window, the morning sun was rising beyond the Forbidden Forest. Golden light streamed through the windowpanes, bathing the towers of Hogwarts in a warm glow.

Fatigue washed over his limbs like a tide.

The feeling was strangely familiar, reminding him of his student days in his previous life.

Back then, he would occasionally stay up all night at internet cafés with his classmates. The next morning, they would all stumble back to the dormitory half-asleep and collapse into bed.

The exhaustion he felt now was somewhat similar to that complete weariness from those days.

He rubbed his temples and was just about to lie down when another flutter of wings interrupted him.

A second owl landed on the windowsill, its feathers dishevelled and its eyes wary.

Sagres frowned as he took the letter from its leg. Seeing that it did not leave immediately, he casually rummaged through a drawer, found a bag of long-expired owl treats, and offered them to the bird.

The owl pecked at them twice before flapping its wings in disdain and flying away.

The letter was written on rough parchment, the handwriting scrawled as though it had been written in great haste:

Blood seeps into the earth.

Darkness revives within the sarcophagus.

He will return.

Those three short lines instantly drove away all of Sagres's drowsiness.

The first person who came to mind was Voldemort.

Then he began wondering where the letter had come from.

Before the crack of Apparition had even faded from the air, Sagres was already standing in the graveyard at Little Hangleton.

The traces of the previous night's fierce battle had long since been erased by his Mending Charm. The graveyard was now so quiet that it seemed as though nothing had ever happened there.

He first walked towards the corner where the Death Eaters had been buried and lightly tapped his wand.

The earth churned apart, revealing several perfectly preserved bodies at the bottom of the pit, including the carcass of the giant snake that had been drained of blood.

Everything appeared normal.

He then quickly made his way to the spot where Voldemort had died and pointed his wand directly at the ground.

"Alte fode."

The soil peeled away layer by layer, but the first excavation revealed nothing unusual.

When he cast the spell a second time, dark-red earth finally appeared, stained with traces of Voldemort's blood.

Sagres breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seemed there was nothing abnormal.

Even so, to prevent future trouble, he raised his wand.

A wisp of pale Fiendfyre surged from the tip and burrowed into the soil like a living creature.

Wherever the flames passed, the earth gave off a faint hiss, and the blood slowly evaporated.

Sagres stared at the dark-red stain, doubts filling his mind.

"Who exactly sent me that letter? Was it a warning? A prank? Or something else entirely?"

Just as he was lost in thought, something strange suddenly happened.

The blood in the soil, scorched by the Fiendfyre, seemed to come alive. It instantly gathered into a pool of thick, dark-red liquid and plunged deeper underground at astonishing speed!

Sagres's brow furrowed tightly, and he immediately pointed his wand at the ground.

"Alte fode!"

The soil surged aside like waves.

He leapt into the pit and continuously waved his wand, carving a passage deeper into the earth.

As he descended, the surrounding soil gradually became cold and damp, while an old, decaying smell began to fill the air.

After digging nearly twenty metres, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

He had reached a hidden underground tomb.

Sagres steadied himself and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

The pool of blood was writhing rapidly not far ahead, moving like a nimble lump of red jelly before disappearing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Sagres waved his wand, and a raven emitting a soft white glow appeared out of thin air. It flapped its wings and flew forward, illuminating the mysterious space.

This was clearly no ordinary burial chamber.

The spacious stone room contained a simple stone bed and stone table. Long-decayed parchment and quills even lay upon the table.

It looked more like someone's dwelling than a resting place for the dead.

Sagres quickly followed the jelly-like mass, the raven's light casting flickering shadows across the walls.

Deep within the tomb, an ancient stone coffin rested silently in the centre of the chamber.

A faded crest had been carved into its lid, a coiled serpent almost identical to the Gaunt family crest.

The crimson mass paused briefly before the stone coffin, then suddenly accelerated and squeezed through a crack in the lid!

Sagres stopped in front of the coffin, his wand aimed steadily at it.

He could sense a strange and dangerous magical aura permeating the tomb.

"I want to see exactly what you are."

___

o(*≧▽≦)ツ💫 Read up to 12+ chapters in advance on Patreon/DarkDevil1