#130 - Gift

However, after hearing this, everyone still seemed uninterested. Many of them had been persuaded by Yaxley with the excuse of dealing with Muggles. After all, why wouldn't they go home for the Christmas holiday?

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Yaxley shouted, "Roge!"

Then, everyone saw Roge walk out from the back room carrying a large box. Opening the box, they saw bottles of potions inside. These were prepared by Roge a few months ago according to his instructions.

"This is? Invigoration Potion?" Wilkes asked after opening a bottle and smelling it.

"That's right. These potions can improve your resistance to spells and invigorate your spirits. Consider it a bonus for waiting here for two days." Yaxley accepted a large bottle of potion from Roge, put it away, and said smugly.

Seeing the potions, everyone was overjoyed. They quickly divided them up and prepared themselves with renewed energy.

Meanwhile, 'Vivian' quickly set off to wait on the path outside the gates of Hogwarts, a necessary route to Hogsmeade.

Before long, 'Vivian' indeed saw Anduin walk out of the school gates, heading towards Hogsmeade. Seeing this, 'Vivian' immediately put on a happy expression and ran to greet him.

"Anduin, Anduin!" Vivian called out loudly as she approached Anduin.

Anduin was visibly stunned by Vivian's appearance, then replied, "What's wrong? Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the Three Broomsticks?"

"When Velen and I were on the way, we realized you've never been to Hogsmeade before, and I was afraid you wouldn't know the way, so we decided to wait for you here," Millie, playing Vivian, made up a story without batting an eye, speaking very naturally.

"Oh?" Anduin squinted at Vivian, then smiled and said, "Is that so? That's very thoughtful of you. Let's go."

Seeing Anduin take the bait so easily, Vivian couldn't help but feel a little contempt for him. Travers always said he was so cunning, but this was it? Several of the scripts she had prepared were not even needed.

Anduin moved towards the outside of the school under Vivian's guidance. Vivian silently led the way in front, while Anduin followed with a smile on his face.

"Why are we going further and further away? Is this the way to the Three Broomsticks?" Anduin asked, looking around at the surroundings.

"Uh," Vivian's heart tightened when she heard Anduin's question, not expecting Anduin to speak up himself.

"You guys aren't planning some kind of Christmas surprise, are you? Such a cliché trick can't fool me," Anduin said to himself, not looking at Vivian's expression.

"Ah, haha, I didn't expect you to see through it so easily," Vivian replied with an awkward chuckle, secretly sweating, then glanced at Anduin with contempt. Was this level of vigilance worth Yaxley spending so much effort to deal with?

In this way, Vivian led Anduin around, arriving at a corner on the outskirts of the village.

Scattered around were several dilapidated huts that looked abandoned, and not far away was a cemetery overgrown with weeds. The walls of the nearby houses were even peeling.

As Vivian led Anduin towards one of the abandoned huts, she noticed that Anduin stopped.

"What's wrong, Anduin?" Vivian asked with a puzzled expression.

Anduin adjusted his monocle, looked around, and revealed a mocking smile: "17 people, quite the grand welcome. It really is a nice Christmas surprise."

Vivian was stunned, her expression stiff as she said to Anduin beside her, "What are you talking about? Come in with me, I've prepared a big gift for you."

"You're too ugly, I don't need you to give me this gift. I'll take it myself."

Before Vivian could react, Anduin turned sideways and quickly kicked Vivian's knee. A 'crack' was heard, and then a right hook slammed into 'Vivian's' face, the force sending her flying more than a meter away. Before she could even make a sound, she flipped over and crashed heavily to the ground, losing consciousness immediately.

At this moment, a strange change occurred on the body of 'Vivian', who had fallen unconscious. The features on her face twisted, and her body slowly began to deform. Before long, the original 'Vivian' was restored to the appearance of Osbert.

Clearly, Anduin had long realized that there was something wrong with Vivian beside him.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Just as Anduin knocked Millie down, applause came from behind him. "Well done, Anduin. Can you answer me a question? When did you realize that the Vivian beside you wasn't the real one?"

"I recognized it from the start, of course. The real Vivian wouldn't be so quiet," Anduin said without even turning around, recognizing the person standing behind him as Yaxley.

"Oh?" Yaxley revealed a mocking expression. "And you still dared to come alone. Should I praise you for your courage, or should I say you're overestimating yourself?"

"You didn't invite me here to chat with you, did you? If you keep talking, I might even mistake you for Vivian," Anduin said with a smile, picking at his ear. But he still didn't turn around, because he had just used the Echo Charm to detect that most of the enemies were concentrated in front of him.

Seeing that Anduin had not fallen into the trap, the people guarding inside the broken house also came out one after another, spreading out around him and gradually surrounding him, each staring at him fiercely.

Travers, at this moment, was even more excited, his face flushed, and he grinned hideously: "You can't escape today, you filthy mudblood. I'm going to gouge out those disgusting eyeballs of yours!"

Wilkes also looked at Anduin mockingly, but did not forget to remind everyone, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and do it, don't alarm others. Although this place is remote, if this kid sends a signal for help, someone will still come."

"Don't worry, I've cast multiple shielding charms here in advance. I even learned it from this guy. Even if you blow this place up, no one will be able to hear it, no one can save him!" Travers had been preparing for revenge for a long time.

Yaxley looked at Anduin, who had no way to escape, and couldn't help but ask with a smile: "You still haven't answered my question, Anduin. Who gave you the courage to actually come? You know, we originally prepared several plans for you. Polyjuice Potion was almost the most clumsy one. I didn't expect that stupid Millie could actually lure you here."