"Albus!" Gael Depp shouted. "Audrey's condition is very bad. I'm taking her inside first. Come in as soon as you're done."
With a swish, Depp disappeared from the lawn.
Dumbledore looked at Barty Crouch with extreme seriousness.
"Mr. Crouch, I still remember you from your school days. What an outstanding student you used to be,"
He shook his head slightly, his white beard swaying gently, his tone filled with grief. "But look at you now! For your own selfish desires, you've lost all sense of decency!"
Barty Crouch's lips moved a few times, but he couldn't say anything.
He knew clearly that Hydrus Lestrange had been falsely accused by the Gray family. It was clearly the Gray family, coveting the Lestrange fortune, who had relentlessly pursued Hydrus.
And those two who were eventually counter-killed had brought it upon themselves.
But the yearning for power and fame had led him down the wrong path from the very beginning. Just as Dumbledore said, his desire for power and fame had already blinded his eyes.
"Professor Dumbledore, I..."
His thoughts were a mess. Finally, he pleaded, "Can you please not report this to the Ministry? As for Miss Astley, I will find a way to compensate her!"
"Compensate? Are you not aware of the damage Mentorui Metal powder does to a wizard's body? What can you compensate her with?"
Dumbledore waved the Elder Wand, and the lawn, which had become a mess from the fight, quickly returned to its original state. "You should go. I have no right to pass judgment on you. As for what happens next, that will depend on Audrey's own wishes."
If time permitted, Dumbledore wouldn't mind personally escorting Barty to the Ministry to explain the situation, but right now, he had more important things to do.
Barty Crouch departed, dejected, his heart filled with anxiety, not knowing how that peculiar girl would deal with him.
'File a complaint with the Ministry?'
'Or sue him?'
... ...
Inside Audrey's room.
Hydrus's face was flushed, her breathing rapid. With her magic in disarray, she couldn't maintain her Metamorphmagus transformation and had long since reverted to her original appearance.
Grindelwald placed her on the bed and sat to one side, pondering countermeasures, his brow tightly locked.
Jinhu crouched on the windowsill, quietly watching Hydrus, its pair of yellow cat eyes full of worry.
Mentorui poisoning syndrome was not easy to treat, especially for a body like Hydrus's, which was overly dependent on magic.
Swish.
Dumbledore appeared in the room.
"Albus, how did it go? Did you kill him?"
"No, Gael, you know me," Dumbledore shook his head. "I don't kill."
"Hmph!" Grindelwald snorted coldly. "Then what are you going to do now that Hydrus is poisoned by Mentorui?"
"I will go seek help from Nicolas Flamel. Do you want to come with me?"
"No, you go by yourself. I don't like that old man."
"Fine. In that case, Gael, you stay here and take good care of Hydrus."
With a swish, Dumbledore left.
Grindelwald sighed, waved his wand, and Hydrus's face gradually changed, finally becoming Audrey's.
GGAD were both masters of Transfiguration. This kind of transformation was naturally effortless for them.
"Edmond," Grindelwald suddenly said to Jinhu on the windowsill, "Hydrus's symptoms are very severe, so I can't leave here. Can you make a trip to Croatia for me?"
Jinhu leaped down from the windowsill. The tabby cat's body began to transform in mid-air. By the time he landed on the ground, he was already a handsome young man.
Edmond Grindelwald, Grindelwald's grandnephew.
It really wasn't easy for Gellert Grindelwald to find this descendant who shared his blood. Ever since he went to live with his Great-aunt Bathilda in England as a child, his connection to the Grindelwald family had been faint.
It wasn't until more than half a century had passed that he finally found the descendants of his father's illegitimate son from back then.
There wasn't much affection, but blood ties are a mysterious thing that no one can clearly explain.
Edmond's relationship with him was seemingly that of grandfather and grandson, but in reality, it was that of master and apprentice, which also made the relationship between the two very harmonious.
"Great-uncle, what am I going to Croatia for?"
"To find the Veela gathering place," Grindelwald said. "I once heard that the great elder of the Veela clan cured an old wizard who was poisoned by Mentorui. You can go there to find a way to cure Hydrus."
Edmond nodded. A smile bloomed on the face that looked so much like a young Grindelwald. He didn't complain about the long journey, but instead began to tease:
"This is great. The princess has really become Sleeping Beauty,"
He smiled and said to Grindelwald: "If I manage to save her, great-uncle, do you think she'll be so moved she'll pledge her life to me?"
Grindelwald shot him a look: "Less of your lip. Hurry up and get lost to Croatia!"
Edmond smiled, bowed, and spun in place.
Swish!
... ...
Croatia.
Susac Island.
This was a small island, facing Italy across the sea.
The entire island had less than two hundred Muggles living on it. It was three kilometers long and one and a half kilometers wide.
On this small island with about ten kilometers of coastline, there was a coastal area that was very peculiar.
The island's inhabitants never walked this way, as if this area had never existed here.
Edmond Grindelwald appeared here at this moment.
"Great-uncle didn't make it clear at all. Croatia is so big! It really made me search!"
He looked at this area, which had a permanent Muggle-Repelling Charm cast on it—this was, in all likelihood, the place he was looking for.
Although Croatia was the birthplace of Veela myths and legends, most Veela had now migrated to Romania and Bulgaria.
To find this place, Edmond had to look up many old friends and use up quite a few favors.
He didn't hesitate and strode forward.
He had watched that girl Hydrus grow from a little sprout into a young woman.
Her body was too reliant on magic. Although powerful, once her magic circulation had problems, she was worse off than an ordinary person. Her body would even lose some of its most basic functions.
This was a very dangerous situation, so he had to hurry!
Bypassing a reef, he saw a huge cave entrance.
Seawater flooded in, and the waves crashed inside the cave, making a sound like wailing.
He jumped onto the sea's surface, walking as if on flat ground. With every step he took, the seawater quickly froze into blocks of ice for him to land on.
Walking into the cave, he raised his wand. The Lumos spell let him see the path ahead.
After walking less than a hundred meters, he reached the shore.
'Do Veela really live here?'
However, Edmond's confidence was soon affirmed.
Because on the damp cave walls, he saw carved murals.
There were beautiful young women, and there were ferocious harpies.
Edmond knew that these two completely different forms were the two sides of the Veela.
So, he had come to the right place.
Turning a corner, his vision suddenly brightened.
Vast expanses of azure crystal made him feel as if he had arrived at a crystal palace.
There was a large hole in the cave ceiling, and sunlight spilled in.
The sunlight was blocked by the water vapor, and the soft light shone on the three- or four-foot-high coral, colorful and incomparably beautiful.
Edmond did not stop to admire the beautiful scenery. He continued forward with great strides.
After passing through a long, thin passage, what appeared before him was a stretch of barren fields—fields that had been reclaimed deep within the cave.
With the help of magic, some things that violated common sense could be done. It was just that this place hadn't been tended to for many years. The plant remains had molded and rotted in this humid environment, long since turning into soft humus.
"It seems no Veela live here anymore," Edmond was a bit disappointed, but he continued to explore deeper. "Perhaps there might be books or records left behind."
Thinking this, he continued inward.
But he hadn't taken two steps before the voice of an old woman called out to him.
"Young wizard, any further in is our clan's dwelling place. Men are not allowed to enter without permission."
Edmond turned his head and saw a translucent harpy floating in mid-air.
It was a ghost, but why was this ghost's form the harpy-form that Veela take when they are angry and out of control?
"Madam," Edmond bowed, "I apologize for disturbing your rest, but I have a truly unavoidable reason for seeking this place."
The old Veela woman smiled: "Is there someone who needs healing? I really can't think of any reason other than illness that would make a person go through such hardship to find this godforsaken place."
"Yes, Madam. A friend of mine has been poisoned by Mentorui Metal and is in urgent need of treatment."
He continued: "An elder told me that he once heard that a Veela here cured an old wizard of Mentorui Metal poisoning, so I came to see if I could find a way to treat my friend."
The old woman laughed:
"Hehehe, the person your elder spoke of is probably me. Seventy years ago, I did indeed cure a wizard."
The old woman's sharp bird-beak suddenly paused, and her voice abruptly became distant: "But back then, to save him, I paid the price of being permanently stuck in this form; I would very much like to know, young man, what price are you willing to pay?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]