#156 - chat
Unfortunately, the little raven's shared vision couldn't truly allow him to see as if he were there himself. In modern terms, the resolution wasn't high enough. This meant he couldn't identify the enchanted runes within the house with the naked eye alone. Moreover, the little raven couldn't cast spells, so there was no way to use magic to break through the warding from the inside.
"Sneaking in seems impossible. Do I really have to force my way in, or lure them out to deal with them? Hmm? What's this…"
Something suddenly caught his attention. Raven Two was being controlled to stand in front of a bedroom door, staring intently at the crack in the door.
"Judging by appearances, the door is a standard 80cm x 2m, but the gap is much larger than usual, at least 5cm wide. If that's the case… I have an idea." Anduin's eyes lit up, and he instantly thought of something, giving him an idea.
"Now, for one last test to see if there are any defensive spells on the walls," Anduin thought.
Next, Raven Two walked over to a wall and gently pecked at it with its beak. Nothing happened. It then continued along the wall, pecking all the way until it reached the exterior wall with the windows, where there was a reaction.
Through Raven One's vision, he saw the expressions on the faces of the people on the second floor rapidly changing, as if they had noticed something.
Inside the living room on the second floor, Thorfinn Traverse, who was talking to the other four, suddenly changed his expression and quickly drew his wand. The others reacted quickly as well, drawing their wands in vigilance.
"The alarm on the third floor has been triggered. Karkaroff, go up and check it out. The rest of you, remain vigilant," Thorfinn said to a man with a full beard.
"Me again?" Igor Karkaroff pouted reluctantly, but there was nothing he could do. As an exile, he could only seek shelter with the Traverses now.
Clutching his wand tightly, Karkaroff slowly walked upstairs step by step.
Meanwhile, Thorfinn, with a gloomy expression, looked at the others. "Yaxley, Goyle, Crabbe, everyone grab a handful of Floo Powder. If things go wrong, retreat to Traverse Manor first."
The other three nodded, each grabbing a handful of powder from beside the fireplace, ready at any moment.
Arriving upstairs, Karkaroff cautiously peered around, finding no one. He then carefully checked every location, including each bedroom, but found nothing. Just as he was feeling strange, a tapping sound suddenly came from outside the window, and he sensed the warding magic fluctuate again.
Karkaroff quickly pointed his wand at the source of the sound, only to find a little raven foolishly pecking at the glass on the windowsill.
Huff, Karkaroff breathed a sigh of relief. So it was just this little guy scaring people. He walked to the window, pointed his wand at it, muttered an incantation, and then opened the window and waved his hand, shooing the little raven away. He then carefully peered out the window, surveying Diagon Alley, and after finding everything normal, he closed the window again, re-casting the spell on the window before returning to the second floor with peace of mind.
Seeing Karkaroff return with a relaxed expression, Thorfinn knew that nothing serious had happened, but he still cautiously asked, "What's the situation?"
"Just a silly raven bumped into the window. It must have triggered the alarm. I've already chased it away and checked, and no one came in," Karkaroff said with a carefree laugh as he sat back down on the sofa.
Hearing that it was just a false alarm, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, put down their Floo Powder, and sat down.
Seeing that these people were ready to run away at any moment, Karkaroff felt a little uncomfortable. So in your eyes, I'm just a burden that can be abandoned at any time? He couldn't help but pout in dissatisfaction, but he didn't say much.
Thorfinn saw the expression on his face and knew that Karkaroff was unhappy, but he didn't care at all. He continued the previous topic with the others.
"Let's stay here for a while longer. My brother is under a lot of pressure right now. Millicent Bulstrode is trying to win over those undecided families. If things go wrong, you should all flee abroad together and wait for the Dark Lord's summons in the future."
"But, I'm still a little reluctant. My child with Goyle just turned three…" Crabbe, who was a bit chubby, hesitated.
"Yeah, have your brother help contact some pure-blood families to pull some strings. Look, didn't many people escape capture? Like you and Malfoy, why can you be fine while we have to…" Goyle, who was burly, was interrupted by Thorfinn before he could finish speaking.
"Enough. Didn't I tell you? Millicent has gone mad. She's now focused on carrying out a great purge, and she has Dumbledore's support behind her. Do you think my situation is easy right now? They might even bring up the old matter… It's all that damn McKinnon family's fault. They keep hounding me."
Thorfinn shouted angrily, then took a breath and calmed down, saying, "I know your difficulties, but the situation is not optimistic. I've already contacted Yulia, and she's convinced Lucius Malfoy to help take care of your wives and children. When the Dark Lord returns in the future, we can still reclaim everything we've lost."
"But, many people say the Dark Lord is, is dead. Maybe if we just tell the Ministry of Magic that we were actually controlled by the Dark Lord with the Imperius Curse, that we were forced to…" Karkaroff, who was big and tall, said somewhat timidly, and then received a fierce glare from Thorfinn.
Seeming to be angered by Karkaroff's words, Thorfinn stood up, grabbed Karkaroff by the collar, stared at him fiercely, and shouted, "The Dark Lord is immortal! Do you want to betray us?"
"No, I don't mean that. I mean pretend, just pretend," Karkaroff explained quickly, startled by Thorfinn.
"Hmph, do you think they're fools? You're already a wanted fugitive, and you're still daydreaming like this. Even I, who was released on bail, have to avoid those guys now. Why would they acquit you?"
After mocking him, Thorfinn looked at Yaxley. "What's wrong? You've been silent since the beginning. What are you thinking about?"
"Me?" Yaxley was startled out of his daze by Thorfinn. "It's nothing. It's just that when Karkaroff mentioned ravens, it reminded me of someone, a damn little wizard."
"That Anduin Weasley?" Thorfinn actually knew Anduin's name.
