Chapter 542 Wolf-like pursuit

The fierce fire spread rapidly along the tunnels and gaps like a greedy fire dragon. The ground for several kilometers in radius was baked by the high temperature, evaporating a hazy mist.

The entire area has become a huge smelting furnace, the snow is sublimating and the soil is losing moisture.

Under the heat of the magical flames, the earth gradually became as hard as iron. The once soft soil is being fired into earthenware inch by inch, making an unsettling crackling sound.

"Rogge, a total of 305,200 Galleons." Belinrum rubbed his hands and came to Rogge humbly, with a greedy light in his eyes.

"How much?" Rogge was stunned for a moment after hearing this, with a trace of disbelief in his eyes. "Are you kidding me? You want to hold 3,000 people in a few hot air balloons? Are you bullying me for not being good at math?"

The expression on Belinrum's face instantly changed from cunning to angry. His beard trembled slightly with excitement. He waved his fists and protested loudly: "We agreed, double the price! 200 Galleons for a ticket, a penny There is no shortage of children!”

He pointed at the survivors in the hanging basket and threatened: "If you are not prepared to pay, I will throw all the paupers in the hanging basket... and let them return to the embrace of the earth!"

As soon as he said this, the surrounding Aurors suddenly turned pale and cast stern looks at him.

They had gone through so much trouble to rescue these survivors from the devil's cave. How could they allow a greedy goblin to put them to death?

Countless pairs of sharp, dagger-like eyes were shot at Bellinrum, as if hundreds of magic wands were aimed at his heart at the same time.

Bellinrum felt the pressure coming from all directions, like an invisible mountain pressing on his shoulders. He couldn't help but grit his teeth, trying not to give in at all.

However, as the Goblin King and the manager of Gringotts, he will never give up the benefits he deserves easily, even in the face of the threat of death.

"This is part of the contract. Even if it is a verbal contract, it has unquestionable sanctity." Bellinrum straightened his back. Although his voice was trembling, it was still full of unyielding will. "Even if you take away my life, , and couldn’t steal my wallet.”

Rogge waved his hand gently, signaling Delis and the other Aurors who were watching eagerly not to act rashly. Although hundreds of thousands of galleons are not a small amount, they are just a drop in the bucket to him.

"No problem." Rogge's soft voice was like a warm spring breeze, instantly dispelling the tension in the air.

These three simple words had magical power and immediately blew away the dissatisfaction and gloominess in Bellinrum's heart.

A bright smile suddenly broke out on the goblin's face, and the anger just now seemed to have never existed. He said enthusiastically: "Roger, I know you are a trustworthy wizard. You are indeed the best student in Hogwarts, and you are indeed different from the ugly politicians in the Ministry of Magic."

"Come on, don't put your hat on me. I don't have that much money on me now. I'll give it to you when I get back."

Bellinrum immediately nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, and agreed repeatedly: "No problem, no problem! Your credit is as reliable as our Gringotts treasury."

While praising, he made a tentative suggestion: "But, regarding the interest on late payments, should we do a good calculation?"

"How about just following Gringotts' loan interest rate?" His cunning eyes kept blinking, "After all, Gringotts doesn't have any money left."

"Hey, Bellinrum, don't push yourself too far." The young Auror next to him couldn't help but speak, trying to defend Rogge.

His face turned red, and he was obviously extremely angry at the goblin's greed: "We are saving people, fighting against the Dark Lord, and saving the entire magical world! Can't you see the situation clearly?"

When Belinrum heard this, he curled his lips in disdain and retorted sharply: "That is also your wizard's business. It has nothing to do with us goblins. We are just doing business and will not get involved in the internal fighting among you." ”

Another older Auror sneered and said sarcastically: "Really? What about the goblins who joined the Death Eaters? The Ministry of Magic has not yet held the traitors accountable..."

"Narrak is an American goblin who has been separated from us for hundreds of years." Bellinrum suddenly jumped on a box, trying to get his eyes level with the Aurors.

He puffed up his chest and said righteously: "This is your problem. You didn't hunt down the goblins who fled to this land. Now you want to blame us, but there is no way!"

"You stupid guy, you only have the strength of an Auror, but you don't have the brains of an Auror. I think you should go back to Hogwarts to make up for your lessons and let that ghostly old man named Binns teach you the history of magic." He He showed a contemptuous smile, and then mocked: "It is your greed that has harmed yourselves."

The Auror opposite heard this and suddenly became angry. There was a dangerous light in his eyes, and he clutched the wand tightly, pretending to teach this ignorant goblin a lesson.

When Belinrum saw this, he immediately jumped out of the box and nimbly ran behind Rogge, only sticking out half of his head.

Behind the "protective umbrella", he said angrily: "It's none of your business. Dogs and mice are nosy. If you have the ability to pay the shipping fee for Rogge, let me see if your wallet is as arrogant. full."

"Ahem." Rogge coughed twice. Although the sound was not loud, it instantly stopped the meaningless quarrel between the two parties.

He first turned to the Auror who had just stood up for him, and raised his mouth slightly, revealing a gentle smile: "Thank you."

Then he turned around, quickly reached out and grabbed Bellingrum's collar, and pulled the cunning goblin out from behind him.

"If you are sure you want to charge interest, you will have to pay me a rental fee for certain things in the future." He threatened in a gentle tone, "Or, I will take it back after the goblin who holds it dies."

Bellingrum's face instantly became stiffer than plaster. He kept scratching his beard, as if this would make his brain work faster.

After a moment, he finally forced out a flattering smile, his voice was so sweet that it was sickening: "Rogge, my dear friend."

"How could I charge interest to my friends? What I said just now was just a harmless little joke, you must not take it to heart."

In order to prevent Rogge from taking the opportunity to lower the price, Bellinrum hurriedly repeated loudly: "305,200 Galleons."

He said in a solemn voice: "As the most reliable business partner of Rogge Travis, I, the honorable goblin king Bellinrum Gwen Apu Nude Mab, am willing to generously..."

His voice trembled slightly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead under the cold wind.

"Generous..." He took a deep breath and announced his important decision with difficulty: "Waste the balance of the payment, 200 Galleons."

As soon as this sentence came out, Bellinrum immediately closed his eyes, as if this would relieve the heartache. The Aurors around looked at each other, and some couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Heh, Rag, you are indeed the most generous fairy king." Rogge curled his lips and teased, "I guess these 200 Galleons are still your boat ticket."

Bellinlum covered his chest with both hands and pretended to be hurt: "Am I that kind of person? How can you slander me like this?"

"You are not a human being."

Bellinlum was stunned for a moment, then grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth: "Hehe, Rogge, you guessed it right."

He smiled cunningly, and with a slightly regretful tone, he tried to say, "Anyway, you don't care about this little money, otherwise we will just treat it as..."

"Who said that? One thing is one thing, how can I let my friend's generosity go to waste." Rogge's tone was firm and sincere.

He knew very well that 200 Galleons were really nothing at ordinary times. Buying some hardcover books from Flourish and Blotts Bookstore, or replenishing some raw materials at the herbal medicine store, is more than this amount of money.

But now it's different. This is a game about the bottom line of both parties. Even if there is only one Knut, it must be counted clearly.

Rogge must make Bellingrum clearly realize that he is a tough and serious opponent. The title of "good guy" only means weakness and easy compromise.

Bellingrum must give up the perfunctory and fraudulent tricks and take every business with Rogge seriously.

He did not continue to haggle with the goblin about the money, but took out a magic photo from his arms and shouted to the hot air balloon baskets scattered around: "Is Barron Jonker there?"

His eyes swept across the baskets, and the survivors were still clearly distinguished even in the sky. There were still many empty seats in the wizards' baskets, while the Muggles were crowded together like sardines, with fear and confusion on their faces.

"I... I am." A voice sounded timidly. Rogge looked in the direction of the voice and saw a teenage boy carefully raising his hand.

His eyes still flashed with the panic of surviving a disaster, and his clothes were slightly worn and messy.

Rogge spread his wings and flew lightly to the hanging basket where the boy was. He took out a bottle of dark red blood-replenishing potion and a small bottle of white essence with a faint silver light from his pocket and handed them to Barron.

"Drink this first, it will make you feel better."

Barron took the potion, hesitated for a moment and drank it all. His face immediately became ruddy.

Rogge handed the magic photo to Barron and said, "I have accepted Mrs. Jonker's mission. Do you want to go to San Francisco with me?"

Barron held the photo, and hot tears suddenly welled up in his eyes. He wiped his face with his dirty sleeves and choked up and said, "Okay...Okay, thank you."

"Everything will be fine." Rogge patted his shoulder gently and took him to the hot air balloon where the Auror was.

"Dawlish, this is Barron Jonker, a student of Ilvermorny." He handed Barron a few chocolate frogs he brought with him, "When we return to the Ministry of Magic, please give him a checkup first so that he can catch up with Christmas tonight."

Barron took the food, and the fear in his eyes subsided a little, replaced by a glimmer of hope and gratitude.

These survivors have been imprisoned by the Death Eaters for a long time, not only physically tortured, but also mentally fragile.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Magic and St. Mungo's Hospital for Magic will conduct a comprehensive examination and treatment on them.

For the Muggle survivors, it is necessary to cast the Obliviate spell to carefully clear all memories of magic and the wizarding world in their minds.

"No problem." Dawlish agreed readily. He turned his head to look at the other hanging baskets and asked softly: "Are there any others?"

"Only him." Roger shook his head. For the wand making method in the hands of Grandma Jonker, he really made dumplings for a dish of vinegar.

Although the process was a little tortuous, it was generally smooth...

Just when he was about to relax and stretch his body to enjoy the beautiful view from the sky, he suddenly felt a dangerous aura.

Several dazzling red spells whistled from the clouds behind, cutting through the blue sky.

"Enemy attack!" Dawlish reacted quickly, put his finger in his mouth, and whistled loudly, waking up all the Aurors.

I saw several black shadows riding flying brooms flying out of the clouds. Rogge looked closely and saw the werewolves who escaped from Laboratory 14 were among them.

"Awoo..." Youer let out a sharp wolf howl. The pursuers quickly spread out, forming an encirclement, and launched a fierce attack on the hot air balloon from all directions.

Rogge's heart sank. Once the hot air balloon was destroyed, the survivors in the basket would fall from thousands of feet and hit the ground in despair.

"What a sinister method." He quickly drew out his wand, his voice clear and firm, "Pay attention to protecting the hot air balloon."

The Aurors immediately entered combat mode. They stood in the basket and cast protective spells to block the Death Eaters' attack.

Bellingrum held the borrowed wand tightly, his eyes flashing with determination. In order to protect his property and the transportation fee that had not yet been received, he did not hesitate to control the hot air balloon to rise quickly by overloading.

The Dark Mark on the basket emitted green flames, and the long snake body rose sharply. As if an invisible big hand suddenly pulled it in the sky, the hot air balloon jumped up violently.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Some of the pursuers' spells were blocked, and some passed under the basket. Although the first wave of attacks failed, the second wave of spells was already being chanted.

"There is only one way to die if we continue like this." Bellingrum shouted in panic, his voice full of fear: "Quick, we must stop them."

The advantage of the magic hot air balloon is that it has a high load capacity, and the flying speed is actually not slow, about the same as the Quaffle on the Quidditch field. But compared with the flying broom, it is as slow as a snail, and they don't even have a chance to escape.

Without saying a word, Dawlish decisively flipped over and jumped down from the basket. His heart skipped a beat due to the acceleration of gravity, but fortunately his butt landed on the broom skillfully, leading him to kill the pursuers: "Follow me to attack and protect the hot air balloon."

"Can you protect it?" Yule's voice echoed in the air, with a chilling sneer.

He let out a series of wolf howls of varying lengths, as if he was using some kind of secret code to convey new instructions to his men.

Suddenly, the Death Eaters who had been harassing like hungry wolves stopped attacking. They disappeared without a trace in the clouds in the sky.

The surroundings suddenly became terrifyingly quiet. There was no light of the spell, no shouting of the Death Eaters, and only the whistling of the wind and the rapid breathing of people were left in the ears.

If the hot air balloon had not really jumped nearly a thousand feet, Roger would even suspect that he had hallucinations.

Dawlish and other Aurors looked solemn. They could only ride on the flying brooms and patrol vigilantly in six directions, up, down, left, right, front and back, trying their best to protect the safety of the hot air balloon. Everyone was on edge, ready to respond to possible threats at any time.

"We must slow down," Bellingrum suddenly shouted, his voice full of heartache, "If this continues, the core components will be burned."

"How long can it last in its current state?" Rogge asked hurriedly.

"Six hours," Bellingrum gritted his teeth and answered, his tone full of regret, "Its service life is 60,000 hours."

"If it is caught up, let alone 60,000 hours, even 60,000 years will be in vain." Rogge shook his head and firmly demanded: "Increase the speed and altitude by one level."

Upon hearing this, Bellingrum was excited and wanted to refute. However, Rogge decisively raised his hand and forcefully interrupted what he was about to say.

"I'm the designer of the hot air balloon, I know where its upper limit is." His tone was steady and calm, giving people a sense of reliability, "If we increase it one level, we must reach New Brunswick within 1 hour."

"But..."

"No buts, we must leave this area immediately. Don't forget, the Death Eaters can use Apparition to intercept, what about us?" Before the voice fell, several piercing whistles came from below, as if the air was torn apart by shells.

"Be careful!" Dawlish shouted, waving his wand at the same time.

Several Aurors cast spells at the same time: "Shatter into pieces."

Boom... a series of explosions exploded below.

"It's the giants, they are throwing rocks at us. This height is too dangerous, the rocks can hit us!"

The height of 3,000 feet seems very high, but it is actually only 900 meters. The giants standing on the hill can completely knock them down from the sky by throwing rocks.

If the Aurors below hadn't acted in time, the wave of stone rain from bottom to top would have been enough to catch them all. Bellingrum finally realized the urgency of the situation and dared not delay any longer. He immediately began to increase the gear of the hot air balloon.

Between money and life, he chose to take both. If he really had to prioritize, life was more important.

"Damn Death Eaters! Damn Giants!" He gritted his teeth, with sparks of anger flashing in his eyes, "I will peel off the skins of these big fools and make carpets to step on every day."

Rogge ignored Bellingrum's venting and turned to the young Barron: "Can you use the magic carpet? Take it. Even if the worst happens, you still have a chance of survival."

Bellingrum glanced at it and immediately shouted: "Rogge, you should give me the magic carpet. It can seat several people, and I can take this poor little guy with me."

"Heh, I'm afraid you'll kick him off halfway..." Just then, a low wolf howl came from the nearby clouds, woooo~~

This sound was like an invisible knife, threatening everyone in secret. Everyone held their breath involuntarily, and even their heartbeats seemed to stop for a moment.

Dalish immediately raised his wand and looked around vigilantly: "Keep the formation! They could be anywhere."

The hot air balloon continued to travel through the clouds, and the silence around was disturbing. Yul's wolf howl seemed to still echo in his ears, reminding everyone that danger could come at any time.

Everyone's nerves were more tense, like a fully drawn bow, ready to deal with sudden sneak attacks at any time. There was a kind of tension that was almost real in the air, heavy, and even breathing became slow.

Rogge flew out of the basket, and his sharp eyes swept around the seemingly soft and delicious clouds. These clouds should have been beautiful, but now they have become accomplices of the Death Eaters.

Knowing that the enemy was lurking in this sea of ​​clouds, they just couldn't give up the hot air balloon and kill the Death Eaters.

The short wolf howls echoed in their ears, haunting them. Rogge had an illusion in a trance, as if they were in a vast grassland, being tracked by a group of hungry wolves.

"These guys..." Rogge gritted his teeth and whispered, "patient, cunning, like a group of real wolves."

Youer was not in a hurry. He tried to crush the spirit and body of the prey by increasing psychological pressure. This is a protracted war, and the test is not the strength of magic, but willpower.

Rogge looked at the survivors in the basket. Most of them had tension and panic on their faces. He said secretly in his heart: "If this goes on, something will happen."