Caryll looked at the woman he had once regarded as a mother, knowing that her loud, enthusiastic greeting was an intentional attempt to prevent him from being the first to call out "Mom."
That was because Wade knew who his real mother was—and his memory hadn't been tampered with.
Even though they were already at the door, and no one was around outside, the room was filled with vampires—enough to pack a classroom. Still, out of fear of Dumbledore, they wanted to wait until Wade entered the room before making a move.
Caryll had no intention of deliberately opposing her; he simply turned and looked at Wade with a gaze that was cold and indifferent.
Even if Wade regretted coming and wanted to leave now, it was too late.
Caryl's eyes swept over Wade's neck. His fingers twitched slightly, his pupils contracted, and his breathing grew subtly rapid.
Wade, seemingly unaware of anything, smiled with squinted eyes—like an ordinary student visiting a classmate's house—and said, "Good afternoon, ma'am."
He passed the plump woman without any suspicion and entered the room.
The woman exchanged a glance with Caryll, revealing a satisfied and sinister smile. Once Wade was inside, she looked around, then shut the door behind him.
Bang!
The sound of the wooden door slamming shut was followed by something heavy crashing violently to the floor, making the floorboards jump as if in shock.
Caryll paused briefly in the entryway, then stepped inside. Upon entering, he saw Wade sprawled on the ground in a sorry state, already tied up. Baird had taken Wade's wand and was examining it in his hand.
"That's it?" the scar-faced vampire clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "That was way too easy, man."
"You were hoping for a battle with a Hogwarts wizard?" Roberts said cheerfully. "No casualties—that's the best outcome… I can't believe it actually went so smoothly."
"Who's this kid?" one of the vampires asked, looking at Caryll. "Are you a vampire too? Why are you wearing a Hogwarts uniform?"
"That's my son. He's got some magical talent," Baird said. "Thanks to Dumbledore's tolerance, he was even willing to let a vampire into the school, which gave us this opportunity."
He emphasized the word tolerance with heavy sarcasm, and the group of vampires burst into laughter.
"Well done, kid!"
Someone even opened a bottle of wine and raised a toast loudly.
"Even though we didn't get to do anything, Baird, every one of us here came with the resolve that we might die pulling this off."
The burn-scarred vampire suddenly spoke with a cold tone. "The promised reward… You're not planning to go back on that, are you?"
The laughter abruptly stopped.
"Of course not. The wealth in this kid's vault still belongs to all of you."
Although Baird was already feeling regret, under the watchful eyes of a room full of vampires, he still put on a confident smile as he spoke.
"That's excellent!" the burn-scarred vampire said with a grin.
"As far as I know, for wizards like him with extensive business dealings, even if they don't show up in person, just a single letter can get the goblins to hand over the money in their vault—Baird, all I need now is a letter."
"Me too," the scar-faced vampire quickly added. Perhaps feeling a little guilty for having done nothing, he supplemented, "I'm not expecting more wealth, but the agreed-upon thirty thousand Galleons mustn't be short."
"Exactly, Baird," the other vampires chimed in. "With him in your hands, you've got an endless source of wealth. And now a single letter can get rid of us—surely you're not going to go back on your word?"
"Letters to Gringotts have to be handwritten, don't they? How many can he write in a short time? Who gets theirs first? To avoid conflict, let's wait until we're in a safer place to sort the letters out slowly."
Roberts urged, "I feel uneasy in this damn place, like Dumbledore could show up at any second."
Gale quickly agreed, "He's right—we'd better get out of here now."
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed Wade Grey suddenly turn his head and look directly at him. For some reason, Gale immediately regretted saying anything.
Maybe it was because Wade's unnervingly calm gaze made the alarm in his mind start to shriek like a siren.
Gale glanced at the room where Lockhart was being held, wondering if he should just ditch his fellow prisoner and run for it.
Baird looked down at Wade Grey, who had been silent ever since his capture. He wasn't sure if the silence came from despair, fear, or from that strange brain of his working out an escape plan.
But he never underestimated this young wizard who had brought such enormous change to the wizarding world in just a few short years. So, without hesitation, Baird snapped the wand he had taken from Wade.
"A wizard without a wand is worse than a Muggle." Baird hauled Wade up from the floor and glanced at his so-called son. "Caryll, keep your wand put away too—don't let him grab it by accident."
"Understood," Caryll said obediently, lowering his head.
A vampire reeking of alcohol sneered, "You're being way too cautious, Baird."
Caryll saw Baird dragging Wade toward the fireplace. The fat woman was already holding a large bowl of Floo powder. Caryll hurried a few steps forward and said, "Um... Dad..."
"Getting soft now, kid? Feeling nostalgic for your classmate?" the scar-faced vampire mocked.
"N-no, it's not that," Caryll lowered his voice and looked at Baird pleadingly. "Wade Grey has a magical item on him that I really like... Dad, can I keep it?"
"Of course… What is it?"
Now that his long-standing goal had finally been achieved, Baird was in a great mood and readily agreed.
"It's… a necklace."
Caryll walked over and met Wade's indifferent gaze. Instinctively lowering his eyes, he reached out and removed a slender gold necklace from Wade's neck. Hanging from it was a glowing, hourglass-shaped golden timer.
As he grasped the Time-Turner, Caryll's hands could not help but tremble slightly. His usually slow, calm heartbeat now pounded with unprecedented intensity.
"What is that thing, kid?" a gaunt vampire suddenly asked, eyeing the gold chain with curiosity and greed.
He didn't know what it was for, but he could tell from Caryll's expression that it was something unusual.
Caryll's fingers twitched, and just as he was about to reply, Roberts cut in:
"Leave it, Tucker. The kid earned his reward today—he deserves it. And with thirty thousand Galleons, what magical item can't you buy?"
Tucker glanced around and saw that the other vampires clearly thought it was in bad taste for him to covet something from a kid. Besides, he hadn't contributed anything to the mission today. So, albeit unwillingly, he shut his mouth.
Caryll tightened his grip on the timer, feeling its edges painfully dig into his palm.
Just then, Wade suddenly chuckled.
"I always found it strange why you were so obedient to them… So that was your goal, Caryll."
He looked up at Caryll with an almost pitying gaze and said, "But it's impossible… That thing can't change anything."
At those words, Caryll sneered coldly. "You think you're the only one who reads books? I've studied wizarding history too. I know what really happened back then!"
He had been worried Wade would say the name Time-Turner, but for some reason, that cold, stone-like gaze filled him with a sudden surge of uncontrollable rage.
He would rather Wade curse him, rage against his betrayal and cowardice—anything but that look.
"Enough. You'll have plenty of time to chat later," Baird interrupted impatiently. He shoved Wade toward the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and tossed it into the flames.
The fire turned green with a whoosh. Stepping in with Wade, he shouted loudly, "No. 25, Milltown!"
Caryll had already quietly retreated to the doorway, ready to slip away while no one was watching—until he realized someone else had the same idea.
The two of them locked eyes. Gale gave an awkward smile and said, "Um… I need to use the bathroom…"
Suddenly, a surprised voice rang out from the living room: "What's going on?"
Caryll turned to see that Wade and Baird were still standing in the flames of the fireplace—they hadn't been transported by the Floo Powder.
The entire room instantly descended into chaos. The scar-faced vampire rushed forward and pulled them out, saying, "Let me try!"
He threw down some Floo Powder and clearly shouted, "No. 25, Milltown!"
They waited several seconds—but nothing happened.
"Try somewhere else…" Roberts suggested nervously. "Try the Leaky Cauldron!"
But even then, the scar-faced vampire didn't get transported.
"This fireplace has been disconnected from the Floo Network!" Baird, more knowledgeable than most of the vampires, clenched his teeth with a grim expression.
"What do we do now?" Artemis asked helplessly. "Are we supposed to drag this kid into the village and find a working fireplace?"
"Idiot! The Floo Network being cut off means this place has been watched for a while!" the burn-scarred vampire shouted angrily.
He strode forward, pressed a knife to Wade's neck, and growled, "If you don't want to die, contact whoever's backing you and tell them to reconnect the Floo Network!"
Wade chuckled softly, his voice was still disturbingly calm as he asked, "And if I don't? Are you going to behead me? Then all the things you want—money, safety, and the alchemical knowledge in my head—will all be gone."
He calmly swept his gaze over the terrified faces of those in the room, as if his life weren't in their hands at all.
The burn-scarred vampire narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Arrogant brat. Just because we can't kill you doesn't mean we can't make you suffer."
He flipped the blade and, without hesitation, plunged it hard into Wade's shoulder.
Gale flinched, instinctively clutching his own shoulder.
But then he noticed something strange: the young wizard didn't scream. In fact, the one showing a look of disbelief was the fierce-looking burn-scarred vampire.
"What the hell? What is this?"
He pulled out the knife—only to find that no blood flowed from Wade's shoulder. There wasn't even any muscle or bone. The open wound was filled only with pale, clay-like material.
"What a shame. I actually liked this robe."
"Wade" said this calmly. He gave his arm a twist in some strange, inhuman way, and the ropes binding him fell away effortlessly.
"What kind of monster are you?" one of the vampires asked in horror, clearly lacking in knowledge of the wizarding world.
"A Magic Doll!" Caryll exclaimed in shock. "How can it be a doll?"
"Impossible!" Baird's face twisted with fury and madness. "I could hear your heartbeat! And the sound of your blood flowing!"
"Oh, you mean this?" The Magic Doll version of Wade removed a small badge from his chest and said calmly:
"Recording and playing back a sound is something even Muggles can do. But you're in luck—what you heard really was my master's heartbeat… just from yesterday."
As soon as the badge left his chest, all the vampires realized in horror that the sound hadn't been coming from him after all.
Baird's eyes immediately turned vicious as he stared at Caryll. Caryl, stunned, said, "But I spoke to Wade earlier myself… Was that also you pretending to be him?"
"You're not wrong," the Doll Wade replied with a faint smile. "Want to guess when we switched, Caryll?"
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
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