Lehende Delacour watched his two enemies die and immediately reverted to human form, hurrying to his wife's side.
The crows surrounding them vanished with the deaths of the two Raven members, though the Anti-Apparition Charm in the area had yet to dissipate.
That actually eased Lehende's nerves. It meant no one could suddenly Apparate nearby, and if anyone approached on foot, he would have time to react.
With things seemingly under control here, Leonard shifted his focus to the other side.
The two men here were already dead, but the other one couldn't be allowed to die. Leonard was still counting on prying some information out of that organization.
At that moment, he noticed a large distortion ripple into existence behind Lehende Delacour. A flurry of pitch-black feathers burst outward, and three figures emerged.
Lehende was busy checking his wife for injuries and didn't sense the disturbance behind him. Only when a translucent black feather drifted in front of his eyes did he realize something was wrong.
He spun around sharply. Brown fur erupted across his skin as he began transforming into a brown bear—
A wand pressed against his throat.
"Calm down, Mr. Delacour," an aged voice said. "Unless… of course, you're tired of living. In that case, feel free to continue your transformation."
A chill crept up Lehende's spine. His bloodline screamed a warning. The man before him wasn't bluffing. If he insisted on transforming, the other party would kill him with the simplest spell.
The innate transformation receded. The brown fur faded away strand by strand.
Lehende held his breath, forced to lift his head under the pressure of the wand.
Only then did he get a clear look at the old man before him.
He was extraordinarily tall—at least two meters—his gray-white hair and beard flaring outward in wild disarray.
A mask covered most of his face, hiding his features, but the exposed skin was carved with deep, knife-like wrinkles.
The sheer height of the old man felt absurd.
For someone of that age, it was almost inconceivable. Human bones inevitably shrink with time. If this was already the result of age, how tall had he been in his youth?
It was hard to imagine.
More important was the pressure rolling off him. He wasn't concealing his magic; he was releasing it deliberately. The dense, suffocating weight of it crushed any thought of resistance before it could even form.
If not for that overwhelming magic, Lehende might have tried to fight back. Even with a wand at his throat, if he could kill the man instantly, there would still be time for treatment.
His wife was a seasoned Healer. Even fatal wounds could be pulled back from the brink.
But now, Lehende didn't dare move. He knew that even if he fought with everything he had, he wouldn't be this old man's match.
"Who… who are you?" he asked hoarsely.
"Raven. Third Senator. You may call me Cappadocia."
The corners of the old man's mouth lifted. The deep wrinkles on his face shifted like living things.
"Moen, Rayel," Cappadocia said without turning around. "Go check on Daniel. He's too slow. Make sure you bring those two Delacour girls back."
"Yes, Senator."
Moen and Rayel responded in unison, then ran off in the direction the Delacour family had come from.
Seeing two more people dispatched after his daughters, Lehende Delacour's heart lurched. But pinned under Cappadocia's suppression, he had no chance to resist. He could only listen as their footsteps faded away.
"Calm yourself, Mr. Delacour. We mean no harm," Cappadocia said lightly.
"No harm? You spread false information to lure me here, set up an Anti-Apparition Charm in advance, and now you claim you mean no harm?"
Lehende had already pieced it together. His family had made a last-minute decision to travel to the Cotswolds to search for a magical plant mentioned in a tip. If this hadn't been arranged by them, how could everything have aligned so perfectly?
And the Anti-Apparition Charm—this wasn't something set up on a whim.
"You're right, Mr. Delacour," Cappadocia said with a soft chuckle. "But that doesn't mean we bear you ill will. Mr. Delacour, your Veela bloodline is exceptional, and you've made excellent use of its transformative gifts. Under normal circumstances, we should be natural allies…"
...
The Forest's Eye was not the Forest's Ear. Leonard could see what was happening in the woods, but he couldn't hear a single word of their conversation.
So he had no idea that an Anti-Apparition Charm had been cast where Lehende stood, nor did he know what the suddenly appeared old man was saying.
He only knew that if he didn't act now, once they accomplished their goal and left, he might never learn what bloodline wizards were—or what this organization truly wanted.
Even so, Leonard had no intention of using plants.
Unlike when dealing with pureblood wizards, he hadn't prepared in advance. He wasn't confident he could keep every one of them from escaping.
If they suddenly transferred away, it would expose his ability to command plants.
That would be troublesome. It could easily put him on this mysterious organization's radar.
...
It wasn't that Leonard was overly cautious. Dumbledore's warning had made him realize that beneath the wizarding world's seemingly peaceful surface, unseen currents were constantly shifting. There were forces he still didn't understand.
If he wasn't careful, he might pay the price.
Ancient magic was best left unused as well.
Dumbledore had just warned him that someone was watching. Charging ahead and using ancient magic now would be reckless.
Fiendfyre was only suitable for ambush. In a pinch, he could use it—but it was too conspicuous for a clean kill. It would draw attention.
But without ancient magic, without magical plants, without Fiendfyre—and without a wand—how was he supposed to deal with members of a mysterious organization who were clearly far stronger than Death Eaters?
Leonard wasn't worried.
Killing was simple.
He pursued powerful magic, yes—but he had never let that pursuit blind him.
A thin wire could open a lock protected against Alohomora. Killing someone didn't necessarily require grand spells.
In his previous life, Leonard hadn't known magic at all. Yet he had killed far more people than he had in this one.
Humans were fragile.
A single bomb could reduce a body to nothing. One bullet could end a life.
Even a sharp little knife could take down a heavily muscled man.
Humans were far more fragile than they liked to believe.