The night sky was as dark and heavy as black velvet, studded with stars like scattered diamonds.
A flash of firelight swept past in a corridor on the eighth floor of Hogwarts Castle.
After delivering Kyle back to Hogwarts, the big turkey flapped its wings and flew back toward Old Dumbledore's office.
"I'll reach out to you next time I need something!" Kyle waved at Fawkes.
Fawkes let out a loud, melodious cry in response.
Watching the cooked turkey fly away, Kyle did not return to his house common room, but instead looked down at the ring on his hand.
After contacting Cedric and the twins using the Magic Lantern Body Technique (Gen灯身之术 / Gendōshin no Jutsu), Kyle turned into another corridor and quickly found the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being bludgeoned by trolls.
"I need a meeting room."
Chanting this sentence three times in his mind as he walked back and forth in front of the tapestry, a door abruptly surfaced on the wall opposite him.
Before long, the other three Father-Grievers also arrived inside the Room of Requirement.
At this moment, the Room of Requirement was set up like a wartime command headquarters. Seven or eight massive blackboards were mounted on the walls, all pinned with extraordinarily large sheets of parchment—maps detailing the underground terrain of Gringotts.
In addition to the terrain, the parchment also meticulously recorded the full defensive strength and guard distribution of Gringotts.
In the center of the room sat a miniature sand table model covering an area of over ten square meters, representing the entire district including Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley.
Preparations above ground were crucial; it would save them a world of trouble.
Gringotts' vaults were guarded by multiple lines of defense. The Thief's Downfall and the fire dragon guards at the front were easy enough to bypass, but the final line of defense was the most troublesome one.
To open the vaults located in the deepest depths, both the key to the vault door and a goblin's handprint were indispensable.
Furthermore, not just any random goblin possessed the authority to open those doors; such privileges were generally restricted to the few goblins with the highest rank and status.
Therefore, for this line of defense, they could only resort to brute force, making it inevitable that they would trip Gringotts' alarms.
Reality could never be like a Muggle movie where bank robbers leisurely made off with the loot while the late police only arrived afterward.
If they truly triggered the alarms—especially those of the deepest vaults—Kyle estimated that Gringotts could deploy at least a hundred guards to the underground within three minutes.
Those guards would pose a significant nuisance, stalling them even if all four Father-Grievers exerted their full strength.
Simultaneously, the Ministry of Magic would receive the news and begin assembling a force composed of both Aurors and Hitkeypers.
As the first wave to reach the vaults, the Gringotts guards would report the details of the attack back up.
Depending on the severity of the situation at the scene, the Ministry of Magic would dispatch varying numbers of reinforcements.
Uh, considering the sheer firepower of their Father-Grievers... in ten minutes at most, a force of over two hundred Aurors and Hitkeypers would completely encircle Diagon Alley.
By then, Anti-Disapparation Jinxes would also be cast around the entire perimeter of Diagon Alley.
If Kyle, as an Obscurial, wanted to force his way out, he could easily break through, but George and the others would suffer terribly.
Thus, personnel had to be stationed above ground to help stall the forces from Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic.
Two streams of consciousness originating from Albania connected into the ring worn on Kyle's hand. Raising his hand, Kyle projected these two streams of consciousness onto the open space beside the sand table.
Two shadowy figures emanating a rainbow-colored halo along their edges materialized in the room.
"Let me introduce them. This is Zetsu."
Kyle pointed to the figure whose head was enveloped by a giant Venus flytrap, then turned to the other, somewhat more normal-looking figure.
"The other is Pain. They are both members of our Akatsuki organization."
Looking at the black figures that suddenly materialized, the other three Father-Grievers marveled inwardly.
This was the first time the Magic Lantern Body Technique had been used since Kyle developed it, and they had to admit, the sheer flair and cool factor were off the charts.
A secret location in the dead of night, mysterious figures appearing out of nowhere, a grand operational plan...
No matter how one looked at it, it felt like the Akatsuki organization had a bright future ahead of it.
Seeing that the others intended to introduce themselves, Kyle held up a hand to interrupt them.
Pain and Zetsu—well, mainly Zetsu—were completely familiar with the three of them. After all, Zetsu had been attached to Kyle's clothes and hanging out with the Father-Grievers for a long time.
"The two of them will cooperate with us in the operation in a few days," Kyle tapped the parchment pinned to the blackboard with his wand as if it were a pointer. "Now, let's focus on studying our specific plan of action."
Time quickly arrived at the weekend. Eleven figures clad in black cloaks adorned with red clouds materialized in Knockturn Alley, adjacent to Diagon Alley.
Looking at the giant Venus flytrap enveloping Zetsu's head, the other three Father-Grievers showed expressions of curiosity on their faces.
A few nights ago, when they were discussing the action plan inside the Room of Requirement, they had actually wanted to ask.
What on earth was that thing on top of Zetsu's head?
Originally, they had assumed it was merely a somewhat bizarre accessory and that Zetsu wore it purely out of personal eccentricity. But looking at it now, it seemed as though that thing was growing directly out of Zetsu's body.
Could it be the result of a failed Dark Magic transformation?
If asking directly hadn't seemed rude, and given that Zetsu was their teammate, the twins—whose curiosity was practically bursting—would have long since pounced on Zetsu to pester him with endless questions.
They might even have tried to yank a piece off directly to check its texture.
"Alright, change into your disguise clothes."
Kyle pulled a loose black cloak out from his ninja tool pouch and slipped it over himself. The body beneath the cloak wriggled slightly under the effect of Human Transfiguration. By the time Kyle's head popped out from the collar, he had already swapped his appearance for that of a rugged, middle-aged man.
"Do I look like a Death Eater?" His voice had also altered through magic.
George and Fred nodded vigorously. "If you put on a brass Death Eater mask, you'd look even more like one."
Masks were out of the question.
After all, they had to pretend to be customers visiting Gringotts to withdraw money; wearing black cloaks was normal enough.
Snape, for instance, wore that large black cloak 365 days a year, and nobody said anything about him.
However, if they waltzed into Gringotts wearing masks, the nature of the situation would completely change.
The goblins of Gringotts would definitely surround them immediately and hand them over to the Ministry of Magic.
A moment later, eleven figures in black cloaks filed out from the dim alleyway, dispersing like drops of water merging into a river, joining the bustling crowd coming and going in Knockturn Alley.
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