Chapter 552 552. Graves's Lies

After hearing what old Mr. Graves said, Mrs. Zabini immediately smiled at Moody.

"Since my father has said so, Aurors shouldn't be involved in other people's family disputes, Mr. Moody."

Moody frowned tightly, stared at her with his magic eyes, and said nothing.

Inside the courtyard gate, Mr. Graves looked at his father in confusion.

"Father?"

Old Mr. Graves ignored him and said to Mrs. Zabini: "Forget it this time. Don't involve my old man in the affairs of you and your wife in the future."

"Okay, Father."

Mrs. Zabini agreed with a smile.

Mr. Graves Sr. said, "You and your friends can go."

Madame Zabini did not move.

The other men in green robes did not move or speak.

"No, father."

Mrs. Zabini's full red lips curled up.

"I'm here to pick up Charles and take him home with us."

Her eyes looked directly at Mr. Graves.

"Honey, let's go."

"you……"

Mr. Graves's expression turned very ugly for a moment.

"What's wrong with me?"

Mrs. Zabini looked puzzled.

Mr. Graves took two deep breaths and said, "Stop pretending, Zabini, I won't go with you."

"Why?"

Mrs. Zabini's eyes naturally turned red, looking affectionate.

"Do you want to abandon me?"

Mr. Graves looked away, "In short, your purpose will not succeed."

"Are you sure? Charles? Are you sure you want to leave me?"

"..."

In short, no matter what Mr. Graves said, Mrs. Zabini pretended not to understand and continued her performance.

Finally Mr. Graves stopped talking altogether.

Looking at this scene, Scott didn't know what to say.

Milton, standing next to Scott, looked even more embarrassed.

Dumbledore and Moody, who were also outside the courtyard gate, were also too embarrassed to speak.

"snort!"

Old Mr. Graves snorted coldly, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

"Don't argue about your business here, old man!"

He glared at Mr. Graves.

"And you, get out of here as soon as possible!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to the house, slamming the door shut with a bang.

"Charlie, my father has said this, which means that he will no longer take you in, and it's time for you to leave here."

Mrs. Zabini said softly to Mr. Graves.

"No matter what you think about our relationship and marriage, I think we need to handle our private matters privately, what do you think?"

Mr. Graves ignored her.

He lowered his head and held the wand in his hand tightly.

"not good!"

At this moment, Scott suddenly turned around and ran towards the door of the house.

"Split into pieces!"

As he ran, he waved the wand in his hand, and the invisible magic turned into a sharp blade and slashed towards the wooden door.

But his attack was blocked.

Dense ancient magic texts appeared on the door.

"what happened?"

Mr. Graves and Milton also came running.

"It's Medea's magic wave."

Scott frowned tightly.

"Suddenly appeared in the house."

"Impossible!" Mr. Graves couldn't believe it. "Apparition is prohibited here!"

"Don't forget how I got in."

Scott waved his wand again.

"Gangnir!"

The golden light gathered and formed a spear, directly piercing the door.

Scott handed the wand to his left hand, held the spear in his right hand, and with a fierce wave, the door collapsed.

They saw old Mr. Graves still sitting on the sofa facing the door, his head hung down, and his expression could not be seen clearly.

And Medea was standing behind the sofa.

"Father!"

Mr. Graves exclaimed.

Old Mr. Graves remained motionless and unresponsive.

"What did you do?" Mr. Graves asked Medea.

"nothing."

Medea seemed to be in a bad mood and her tone was a little impatient.

"Just saw a joke."

Mr. Graves asked again, "What did you do to my father?"

Medea was particularly cruel at this moment, "Let him suffer the punishment he deserves."

After hearing this, Scott took action directly.

The spear escaped from his hand and stabbed directly towards Medea.

The golden light flashed away, and Medea's body was torn apart, turning into ceramic shards and falling to the ground.

"Already escaped in advance."

Scott felt a little regretful.

"Father!"

"grandfather!"

The Miltons and their son rushed to the old Mr. Graves and lifted up his drooping shoulders.

Mr. Graves stretched out his hand and sniffed his nose.

"Fortunately...he's just unconscious!"

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Quick, we have to get to St. Mungo's as soon as possible!"

He knelt down and tried to carry old Mr. Graves on his back.

"it's useless."

came the voice belonging to old Mr. Graves.

"What?"

Mr. Graves turned his head.

Scott also looked at the landscape painting on the wall. At this moment, the figure of old Mr. Graves appeared in the painting.

"it's useless."

said the portrait of old Mr. Graves.

"I'm hopeless."

"Father? What do you mean?" Mr. Graves asked.

The portrait says: "She has shattered my soul, and the body has become an empty shell."

Mr. Graves' eyes widened, "But... he's obviously still breathing."

The portrait said: "That is just an illusion, because the soul is only broken, but it does not leave the body."

"What did she do to you?" Mr. Graves asked.

"She just killed me."

When talking about his own death, the portrait's tone is very calm and his expression is calm.

"I am the one who imprisons my soul."

"Father?"

Mr. Graves looked at the portrait dumbfounded.

But soon he became angry again.

He asked loudly, "Why! Why are you just unwilling to hand over that damn magic item to her? Is that thing more important than your life?"

At this moment, the portrait of old Mr. Graves did not look as cold and inhumane as himself. After hearing Mr. Graves' question, his old face actually showed a smile.

"Because there are no magic items," he said.

"What?"

Mr. Graves and Milton both looked shocked.

"How stupid." The portrait laughed, "So far, our family has only inherited it for three generations. How can we have such a powerful magic item."

Mr. Graves said: "But... everyone says..."

"Because that's what I spread on purpose." The portrait said proudly.

"You are..." Mr. Graves' tone was uncertain.

The portrait nodded.

"Yes, in order to shock other people, and for the Graves family to have a better development in the magic world, I deliberately and inadvertently mentioned that I own a powerful magic item."

"Fake?"

Mr. Graves looked at the portrait incomprehensibly.

"No wonder Slytherin said that she just saw a joke. You actually lost your life because of a non-existent magic item? What on earth were you thinking?"

The portrait replied, "I said it was for the Graves family."

"Why don't you tell us? Why don't you just admit that you lied? Why don't you publicly state that we don't have that damn magical item in our house?"

Mr. Graves gasped.

"You actually lost your life for such a ridiculous reason!"

"It's worth it," the portrait said. "We must let others know that the Graves family is not without cards."

Mr. Graves roared angrily, "But now Slytherin knows! She knows your lies, and she will tell his men! Those people may even spread you around as a joke!"

Faced with his anger, the portrait sighed.

"There is nothing we can do about it. My original plan was to take this secret to the grave and make everyone think that the magic item really exists."

"Were you prepared?" Milton asked tremblingly, "Were you not prepared to survive?"

"That's right."

The portrait looked at Milton with a different look than the real old Mr. Graves, with affection.

"I know my house cannot withstand Slytherin. If I die protecting magic items, she won't know the truth. It's a pity..."

Scott couldn't help but ask, "Do you know how she got in?"

"I don't know." The portrait shook its head. "She suddenly appeared behind me and attacked me with the Imperius Curse. When she asked the truth, she took my life directly."

Scott asked again, "Even if this is the case, you should be prepared for it."

"What a sharp kid."

The expression in the portrait is a little helpless.

"It seems you saw my arrangement."

"yes……"

Scott looked at the unconscious body on the sofa with complicated eyes.

"You are prepared."

"What's the meaning?"

Both Mr. Graves and Milton looked at Scott in confusion.

Scott looked at the portrait questioningly.

"There is nothing that cannot be said." The portrait said, "I will need your help next."

Scott then told Milton and his son.

"Old Mr. Graves has been prepared for a long time. He used his body and soul as alchemy materials and wanted to leave a real trump card for the Graves family."

"What……"

Both Mr. Graves and Milton opened their mouths.

Scott walked over to the body of Mr. Graves Sr.

As he used magic power to pull it, red lines immediately appeared on the skin of the corpse.

"It seems like old Mr. Graves hasn't used magic power for a long time."

he whispered.

"He carved the magic text on his skin and stored all the magic power in his body. Of course, there is also the magic text circuit that imprisons the soul."

"I have been preparing for three years," the portrait said.

"But it's not done," Scott said.

The portrait said: "Now there is only one last step left. Charles, take my body to the basement. I have prepared everything. It is up to you to complete the last step."

"No!"

Mr. Graves clearly found it hard to accept.

"Such a thing...I can't agree..."

"How stupid!" the portrait yelled, "Are you going to let all my hard work go to waste?"

Mr. Graves still shook his head.

Milton had been staring blankly at the body of old Mr. Graves, tears flowing silently.

Scott silently exited the room.

It's really not convenient for him to get involved in what happens next.

Whatever choice Mr. Graves makes is a private matter for the Graves family.

He looked outside the courtyard door.

There was obviously a fight just outside the courtyard gate.

By this time the battle was over, and Dumbledore and Moody had captured several men in green robes, including Mrs. Zabini.

Scott walked to the courtyard door and used magic power to activate the magic text on the door. After observing it for a while, Scott stretched out his hand and clicked on several nodes of the magic text circuit, opened the door and walked out.

"Professor, Mr. Moody, Tonks..."

He took the initiative to say hello to a few people he knew.

"How's it going in there?" Tonks asked.

Scott shook his head, "After I entered, old Mr. Graves had been killed by Medea. Medea was still possessed by the ceramic doll, and she left before I could do anything."

Tonks patted him on the shoulder, "It's not your fault."

"I know."

Scott didn't think it was his fault.

He looked at Mrs. Zabini who was being controlled.

"Excuse me, do you know how Medea appeared in the house?"

Mrs. Zabini smiled and said: "You can take a guess, boy."

"We also asked her, but she refused to tell." Tonks said, "Besides, her Occlumency is very powerful."

"Can I use Veritaserum?" Scott asked.

Tonks shrugged, "This needs approval from above."

Mrs Zabini said: "I have committed no crime and Veritaserum is illegal."

Everyone looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

Madame Zabini was confident.

"I just came to deal with a family dispute, and happened to encounter the unfortunate murder of my father. This obviously had nothing to do with me."

Her eyes moved across the crowd.

"You can all vouch for me, can't you? I didn't do anything..."

Moody immediately sealed her mouth.

"We need to go in and take a look."

He waved and led the two Aurors into the courtyard.

But not long after, they came out.

Afterwards, Moody led the Aurors to escort the man in green robes away.

Scott and Dumbledore stayed.

Apart from the death of Mr. Graves Sr., Scott told Dumbledore nothing about the non-existent magical items and Mr. Graves Sr.'s plans.

Of course, he didn't ask Mr. Graves whether he planned to follow the old Mr. Graves's instructions and turn his body into a trump card of the Graves family.

Both he and Dumbledore only offered a few words of comfort.

After Mr. Graves removed his father's body, Scott began to examine the house inch by inch, trying to figure out how Medea got in.

In order to prevent Milton from being too sad, he asked him to look for him together and talk to him smoothly.

"Now that I think about it, Mrs. Zabini's performance just now was obviously delaying time."

"We all thought she was just trying to cheat to escape the Aurors' questioning."

"And she knew your grandfather's character very well and used his temper to make him close the door on himself."