#488 - Breaking into the basement

After the two house-elves left, Draco and Lin Xia went to the basement in unison.

The purpose of their trip was to give the potion to O'Connor. They didn't have to meet him in person, but they had to let O'Connor know that there was a group of people who wanted to help him.

Lin Xia believed that out of hatred for the Death Eaters, O'Connor would also take a gamble.

After all, the temptation of a potion that can kill Death Eaters is too great.

Lin Xia originally thought that there wouldn't be too many people in O'Connor's villa, and that all this was just O'Connor's paranoid revenge fantasy, but until she entered the villa and saw house-elves patrolling one after another.

Only then did Lin Xia realize that she had underestimated O'Connor's determination.

Draco and Lin Xia found the entrance to the basement, and then saw a group of house-elves coming towards them, so they immediately leaned against the corner.

After the house-elves left, they continued to grope for the switch leading to the basement.

Draco whispered, "It's a pity that the Marauder's Map became ineffective after arriving in Hogsmeade. It would be great if it could also record the topography of Hogsmeade."

Lin Xia used the bright candlelight and the extrasensory perception spell to find out what was wrong.

O'Connor was in the basement, but from the surface of the villa, they did not see a passage leading to the basement.

Lin Xia glanced at him, as if asking: Did you just find out about this?

Draco said calmly, "I suddenly had an idea. I think these house elves will succeed."

Lin Xia didn't comment: "Tell me your reasons."

Draco was silent for a while, then said, "Death Eaters are also afraid of death, but these house elves gathered here for only one purpose, and that is to drag the Death Eaters to be buried with them."

He emphasized the word "buried with the deceased".

These house-elves all came here with the thought that they were going to die. They didn't expect to survive at all. They just wanted to bring more Death Eaters to see Merlin before they died.

Lin Xia thought for a moment and whispered, "Have you ever thought about why the nobles want to enslave the house elves?"

Draco said puzzledly, "They are good at doing housework. Every noble will place a house elf in the manor to take care of everything in the manor."

Lin Xia shook her head: "No, the reason why wizards enslaved house-elves was out of fear."

She went on to say: "House-elves can cast spells accurately without using wands. Although they are only proficient in household magic, if household magic is practiced to the deepest level, it is possible to transform it into offensive magic.

We have learned a variety of spells, and you should have noticed that many low-level spells are not ineffective, but wizards don't know how to use them at the right time. As long as the timing is good, low-level spells can still defeat high-level wizards. "

She paused, then continued, "So when the house-elves, with the idea of ​​certain death, were determined to drag a certain wizard to see Merlin, I never doubted that they would not succeed. I only wondered when they would succeed."

Draco was startled.

He had never thought about this problem. In his eyes, house-elves were despicable creatures, subordinates of wizards, born to serve wizards and take care of the rear for wizards.

Even though he knew that house-elves could cast spells without wands, and that the spells they cast were fast, accurate, and powerful, his long-standing superior attitude prevented him from seeing these creatures at all.

Now after hearing what Lin Xia said, he suddenly felt enlightened.

"That's why you wanted to come over to deliver the potion. You are optimistic about the house-elves' counterattack this time."

"No, Draco, you are wrong." Lin Xia suddenly found an unusual spot on the wall and poked it with her wand.

The style of the wall is very uniform. Adding one more white dot or one less white dot will not affect the style, but Lin Xia believes that this white dot should not appear here.

Following her inner instinct, she took action.

After poking the white dot, a stone door appeared in front of them soon.

The stone door is a revolving one. Once the two people push the door open, it will make a dull and sharp "click" sound.

Lin Xia set up a spell to block out the sound in advance, pushed the door open and walked in, followed closely by Draco.

After they went in, what they didn't know was that the movement at the stone gate was directly transmitted to O'Connor.

Entering the stone gate, there is a bright stone staircase with torches around to illuminate the way.

Lin Xia's eyebrows twitched slightly, and a sense of urgency surged in her heart, urging her to place the potion and leave quickly, so she ran wildly with Draco in her hand.

While running, she continued, "This is not the counterattack of the house-elves. This is just their revenge, revenge for their masters who were once persecuted by the Death Eaters."

Even though wizards treat house-elves in this way, these creatures are just like what wizards think of them - hardworking, diligent, and extremely loyal to their masters.

Seeing how intense their hatred was, she wanted to help them.

They rushed down the steps quickly and saw O'Connor holding a kerosene lamp and running towards the stone stairs with a vigilant look on his face.

In its other empty hand, it held a bottle of purple potion. Just by looking at the color of the potion, Lin Xia could tell that it was highly poisonous.

Not to mention getting touched, just smelling the scent will poison the wizard.

Lin Xia immediately pulled Draco to the other side and did not meet O'Connor.

Compared with the intricate layout of the villa above, the basement layout is relatively simple.

There weren't many twists and turns on the road; they just passed through a corridor, and when they walked out of the corridor, they saw an empty hall.

The carpet on the hall floor was in the shape of an Ouroboros, and the silver-green color exuded a sense of grandeur and elegance. However, because it was located in the basement, under the lighting, no matter how noble it was, it still looked a little eerie.

Lin Xia took a look and found that this was totally Slytherin's style.

Most house-elves do not have a clear preference in art, but prefer to do a certain kind of work and use some kind of magic.

Even if you have a related preference, you would not dare to use such a flashy carpet.

There is no doubt that this was arranged by O'Connor's previous owner.

There are three rooms in the living room, one of which is a bedroom. The door of the bedroom is slightly open, and the scene inside can be clearly seen through the gap in the door.

The bedroom also follows the Slytherin style, as if a nobleman lives in it.

Lin Xia flew past quickly. She knew that the elf would never live in this room.

The second room was the bathroom. She simply used the extrasensory spell to amplify her sense of smell and could smell the damp steam in the bathroom.

So she went to the third room.

This room is also the most special one. The other two rooms are not locked, but this room is locked from beginning to end. The silver lock looks a little special.

Draco waved his wand, "Ahoa move!"

As expected, the door didn't move at all. The unlocking spell had no effect on the lock.

Draco was a little anxious. He was worried that O'Connor would suddenly return, so he asked, "How about we just blow the lock open?"

In his impression, the padlock can be destroyed by "thunder explosion" or "shattered into pieces".

Lin Xia rejected it immediately: "No, O'Connor is different from other house elves, he is very smart.

We clearly set up a shielding spell, and no sound was heard, but it still detected someone breaking in, which proves that it has made arrangements here. Once the lock is opened violently, it will definitely be able to detect it."

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Draco: "So what should we do now? Do you have a better way to open the lock?"

Lin Xia pondered for a few seconds, and suddenly took out a thin wire from the traceless retractable ring.

"I think it's better to use physical unlocking than magic unlocking. This lock is somewhat similar to the ancient locks I saw in your house, and the style of the bedroom just now is also a typical traditional aristocratic style.

I've read your family's aristocratic history. Your family liked to use this kind of luxurious and exquisite lock in the last century. This kind of lock can completely block the effect of magic.

If this lock is also like this, even if you use the attack spell, violent unlocking will not work on it. "

Draco frowned. After Lin Xia said that, he remembered it.

He did have several of these locks at home, and he used to play with them when he was a kid. Not only were they very sturdy, but they would not break no matter how much he played with them, and they could not be destroyed even with magic.

He remembered this ancient padlock, which completely eliminated any magical effects. It could protect against wizards but not Muggles.

So the solution is -

What Lin Xia is doing now is using physical means to unlock the lock!

She placed a long thin iron wire in the keyhole, amplified her hearing through the extrasensory spell, and listened attentively to the obstacles the iron wire encountered. Every time she encountered an obstacle, she used flames to melt the thin iron wire slightly and get through the obstacle.

After a while, the thin iron wire reached the deepest part of the lock, and the twisted lines in it just matched the switch in the lock.

Lin Xia twisted it slightly.

With a "click", the lock was twisted open!

Draco looked at Lin Xia in surprise, and a sense of admiration rose in his heart.

Even if he knows that he can open the lock by physical means, he will be more inclined to look for the key rather than make a key himself.

But it turns out that Lin Xia's method is simpler and more efficient.

Just as Lin Xia mentioned before, many low-level spells are not worse than high-level spells, the premise is to see how they are used.

After unlocking the door, Lin Xia pushed open the door, and what came into view was a densely packed pile of medicine bottles.

Draco walked in. The other potions were almost finished, most of them were poisons, but the potion in the center was still a semi-finished product.

"African tree snake skin, moonstone powder, borlock summer grass, salamander serum, and exceptionally clean and clear water. This should be water from the habitat of unicorns. I have used this water before, so I recognize it."

Draco frowned: "This formula...it's for making truth serum!"

While Draco observed the potion first, Lin Xia observed the layout of the laboratory first.

The towering dome almost overwhelms the sky, and it is another typical aristocratic-style laboratory.

But that's not the point. The point is that the dome reflects a starlight.

Lin Xia asked: "Do you think this place looks like the school auditorium?"

Draco looked up and was stunned. "It does look like it. Every time there is a festival, the professor will turn the dome of the school into a starry sky. If there are many candles placed around it, it will look even more like it."

At this moment, he finally reacted.

"O'Connor served students in Slytherin House before? No, that's not right, O'Connor's master is from Slytherin!"

Lin Xia said thoughtfully: "I have heard that the Dark Lord was outstanding in school and was regarded as a leader by Slytherin students, so when he decided to initiate reforms in the wizarding world, Slytherin students were his first followers.

Not only that, his great ambitions also received support from many nobles, and those nobles were basically from Slytherin. Rather than saying that this was a reform initiated by the Dark Lord, it would be better to say that it was the nobles who pushed the Dark Lord to reform.

But at that time, no one expected that the Dark Lord would become stronger and stronger, and his appetite would become bigger and bigger, so that even many nobles were afraid of the Dark Lord.

But his powerful strength also attracted many nobles. Even though they knew they were courting disaster, they still wanted to join him and gain more powerful strength. Therefore, it was not surprising that O'Connor's master was from Slytherin. "

Draco looked a little unhappy, and whispered, "I thought the cannon fodder on the battlefield were all ordinary wizards. I didn't expect that even nobles would be sacrificed."

Lin Xia glanced at him and suddenly said in a very soft voice: "It doesn't necessarily mean sacrifice."

Draco frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lin Xia: "It's nothing more than some means of control. The nobles may not necessarily die in battles with other wizards. They may be deliberately pushed to a place of death by the Dark Lord, or deliberately sent to die by the Dark Lord. Otherwise, O'Connor would not hate the Death Eaters."

Based on the extent of O'Connor's hatred, Lin Xia reasonably guessed that his master must have said something to O'Connor, letting him know that his enemies were the Death Eaters, not the wizards who fought against the Death Eaters.

Lin Xia walked to the experiment table of the truth serum, glanced at the raw materials piled beside it, and said with a serious expression: "It seems that it has failed many times."

Various raw materials were piled up in a miscellaneous manner aside. As soon as one material became scrapped, new materials would be added. No one knew where the company got so many rare materials from.

If it were an ordinary wizard, he probably wouldn't even have half of those qualities.

Draco observed for a few seconds and said, "The reason for the error is that the African tree snake skin was processed incorrectly. It was simply ground and processed very roughly."

Lin Xia waved his wand, found a blank piece of parchment on the spot, and wrote down the correct steps for making the truth serum.

Note: Boomslang skin needs to be air-dried for seven days without moonlight, and unicorn hair is added when grinding to filter out the toxicity. (End of this chapter)