#546 - My own people (asking for monthly ticket recommendation ticket)

“Now is not the time to be careless!” Old Hag furrowed her brow and shook her head. “The Finnmark region we've entered is the most dangerous area. It's the location of Durmstrang Institute and also has large wizarding settlements. One wrong move and we could be discovered by the Purifiers.

Having said that, Old Hag raised her head and shouted loudly at the surrounding escort convoy, "From now on, we're canceling all rest stops and heading towards the border at full speed. Once we're out of Scandinavia, we'll be temporarily safe. Then we'll have a unified rest, and our travel speed can also increase!"

Hearing Old Hag's order, a chorus of wails immediately arose from the surroundings.

“Heavens, this is too torturous!”

“Is it really necessary to go to such lengths? There are so many of us. As long as we maintain a good perimeter, what accidents could possibly happen!”

“Exactly! We've only stopped to rest once in the past two days, and now we have to travel continuously. If we really encounter enemies on the road, how will we have the energy to fight them off?”

At this moment, both the wizards Old Hag had recruited locally and the collaborators from the Americas began to complain discontentedly.

Seeing this scene, Old Hag's face immediately turned cold. "No! The longer we stay in Finnmark, the higher the risk of being attacked. We absolutely cannot stay here!"

Seeing Old Hag's serious tone, the surrounding wizards' expressions turned bitter, and many even openly displayed their displeasure.

“Old Hag, forcing them like this really isn't the way to go.” The Mute Bird next to her also approached, “You have to realize that we're already at the northernmost part of Europe, and the temperature is even below -20 degrees Celsius. It's difficult enough to live in such extreme conditions, let alone travel through the night.”

The reality was indeed as he said. The surrounding ground was already covered in snow, making it difficult to even breathe in this environment. Even if they had enough potions and clothing to keep warm, most people were still shivering from the cold, not to mention that these wizards had to constantly observe and be vigilant, as well as take care of the magical creatures.

Hearing the Mute Bird's advice, Old Hag also felt a little embarrassed.

She looked around, observing the surrounding wizards, and found that they all looked listless, covered in a layer of snow, with icicles hanging from their eyebrows and beards. The biting cold wind made it difficult for them to even open their eyes.

Many of the wizards had cast Bubblehead Charms on themselves to avoid breathing in the icy, knife-like air.

However, this spell, which could normally last for at least half an hour, would freeze and break in less than 5 minutes in this environment. The self-cast Fire-Resistant Charm was also not very effective, and would only waste magic power.

“Ah… how could I be so foolish? I should have had a unified rest before entering Finnmark.” Old Hag realized that she had made a big mistake.

The main reason for this was that she had never put herself in their shoes. Having lived in the far north for many years, and with her strength far surpassing ordinary wizards, she habitually assumed that others could also function normally in this environment. She hadn't expected these guys to perform so poorly.

“Old Hag, I think we should find a place to let them rest briefly, at least to let everyone recover their magic power. Those North American wizards aren't used to working in this environment, and not to mention the wizards, even the magical creatures are about to give out.” The Mute Bird was also shivering from the cold, and suggested to Old Hag in a trembling voice.

“Alright…” Old Hag could also see that the surrounding wizards were already at their limit. If she really forced them to move, even if they made it out of the Norwegian border, a large number of them would probably collapse.

“I can give them a rest period, but we must first get past Durmstrang Institute, otherwise I really can't rest assured.” Old Hag spread out the map and looked at it, finally deciding.

“That works too. According to the route, it'll be another two hours of travel.” The Mute Bird also nodded in agreement, and then loudly conveyed this decision to everyone.

Upon hearing this good news, the surrounding wizards immediately cheered excitedly. Traveling in this terrible weather was simply too torturous. At the same time, they mustered their spirits again, increasing their speed once more.

While Old Hag and her group were overcoming obstacles and rushing on their way, Karkaroff in Durmstrang also approached their headmaster.

“Are you sure about this? Several dozen Silver Spears are smuggling right under my nose? Do they have a death wish?” Durmstrang Headmaster Seth Jacobsen looked at Karkaroff with a face full of suspicion.

“Absolutely true, Headmaster Jacobsen!” At this moment, Karkaroff was no longer the cowardly, submissive figure he usually was. Now, he had a solemn expression, revealing a sense of dignity and authority, as if he were a cold and aloof gentleman.

“I received accurate intelligence that those Silver Spear scum were trying to sneak past Finnmark while you were being careless. They may have already moved to the vicinity of the school.”

Karkaroff sighed at this point, looking at the other party with a serious expression, “Headmaster Jacobsen, you have always been kind to me, and I have never forgotten that kindness. That's why I immediately came to inform you after learning of this news.”

“So, they want to play the 'hiding in plain sight' trick on us, they are quite smart!” Jacobsen saw that Karkaroff was so serious, and also thought that their relationship was indeed good. This guy's position as deputy headmaster was also promoted by him, so he probably wouldn't lie to himself, so he nodded in agreement.

At this moment, he thought that the Silver Spears actually dared to mock him like this, Jacobsen's face immediately became ferocious.

“I didn't expect these rats who don't know what honor is to have become so bold, daring to disregard the Jacobsen family.” Jacobsen snorted angrily, “Let's go! We'll set off now, we must let these bastards know who's in charge of Norway!”

Ah? I have to go too?

Hearing Jacobsen's words, Karkaroff immediately felt a little weak in the knees. This was not within his expectations!

Thinking of this, Karkaroff immediately revealed an expression of righteous indignation, "Headmaster Jacobsen, those Silver Spear wastes are provoking the dignity of the Jacobsen family. I think it's better for you to lead the family's wizards to punish them and vindicate the family. If I go along, it will weaken your prestige. I won't go along and cause trouble. Besides, Professor Donnely of Potions has recently taken a long vacation, and someone has to watch over the school."

“Hey, Karkaroff, you're too modest.” Jacobsen smiled and shook his head, then kindly held his shoulder, “Although this doesn't concern you, you knew to inform me as soon as you learned the news, preventing the Jacobsen family from losing credibility. This makes me very touched. From today onwards, you are a friend of our Jacobsen family, you are one of us!”

Speaking of this, Jacobsen stared at Karkaroff with burning eyes, as if telling him that from now on, the Jacobsen family will take care of you in Scandinavia!

Hearing Jacobsen's heartfelt words, Karkaroff cursed in his heart, I don't want to be one of you!

In fact, after so many days, he had vaguely realized Anduin's plan, so he knew that Jacobsen's trip would probably be a one-way trip. Now, letting him go along would be like sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth?

However, Jacobsen's attitude was firm, not giving Karkaroff any chance to refuse. He directly grabbed his arm and Apparated out of Durmstrang, and then cast a Patronus Charm to notify the rest of the family's wizards.

Karkaroff saw that he had already been taken out, and refusal was impossible, so he quickly found an opportunity to send a message to Anduin. Now he could only hope that this lord would save his life.

Before long, more than twenty wizards from the Jacobsen family gathered around them. Two of them even worked within Durmstrang, and Karkaroff knew them.

One was the school's librarian, and the other was the school's flying instructor. Since these two were both relatives of Jacobsen, they did not have the surname Jacobsen. Karkaroff had not known this before.

“Headmaster Jacobsen, is it really appropriate for us to go looking for trouble with those guys with just this many people? As far as I know, there are dozens of wizards in Silver Spear?” Karkaroff asked with some trepidation, seeing that the other party was about to set off after gathering his troops.

“Hmph, do we need a fire dragon to deal with a bunch of Flobberworms?” Jacobsen sneered dismissively.

“Don't look at our small number, but we are all battle-hardened pure-blood wizards, who have grown up in the harsh environment of Norway since childhood. Each of them can at least take on two, not to mention you and me. If we can't even deal with a bunch of dirty worms, what face do we have to be the headmaster in Durmstrang?”

What do you mean by you and me? Can you not include me? Karkaroff twitched his face helplessly.

He found that he seemed to have overacted his performance before. How come Jacobsen really seems to regard him as the second-in-command? Doesn't that mean he has to take the lead in charging later?

Thinking of this, Karkaroff suddenly regretted it. He shouldn't have made his persona so great and upright. Now people really believe it, and he estimates that he is really going to die.

However, what made Karkaroff a little relieved was that he received a message from Anduin before setting off, telling him that he only needed to protect himself and he could retreat safely.

Karkaroff, who felt a little more at ease, had already followed Jacobsen onto a flying broomstick and began searching for traces of the Silver Spears throughout Finnmark.

After more than two hours of searching, they finally found their target about a hundred kilometers away from Durmstrang.