Grey, black, white.
Black, gray, white.
Pain, pain, dizziness, pain, pain...can't see clearly. Still can't see clearly. Why can't I remember or see clearly? Is there really such a ridiculous thing in the world? With huge magic power as the backing, we still can't touch the corner of the truth?
No, no no…the truth doesn’t matter.
It doesn't matter anymore.
…………
It was already ten o'clock in the morning when Riddle woke up from his dream. This was a rare occurrence for someone as busy and skilled at anything as he was, so no one dared to disturb him - no one, not even house elves, dared to trespass.
The curtains in his room were drawn, and the whole room was like a dark night, with no daylight entering. But an ordinary Tima lamp that was incompatible with his room was placed at the head of his bed, and it always emitted a weak, dim light so that the room did not fall completely into darkness.
He opened his eyes, got out of bed without any expression, put a gold ring dotted with huge obsidian on his left hand, walked out of the inner room dedicated to rest, locked the door, and then went to the outside room and rang the bell to call the servants. , and asked the manservant to come in and dress him.
The male servants immediately came in from the door, together with a housekeeper who was no longer young, serving Riddle diligently. They changed out of his pajamas, brought many robes and formal suits for Riddle to choose from, took out the expensive accessories one by one from the velvet boxes, and visited him in order to match them with today's outfit.
This scene is almost exactly the same as that of many old-school British nobles, but unlike them, these servants and housekeepers do not dare to say a word and be the master. In this manor, Riddle is the only master. He is the only one who can make the decision. In fact, even the butler can only control general internal affairs. Riddle's external affairs and special internal affairs are fully handed over to his trusted friend's son, Lucius Malfoy. This is why this young upstart will hold a banquet at Gaunt Manor. The reason for waiting for orders and introducing guests like a servant.
Riddle casually pointed at a formal suit and a brooch, glanced at it, and asked the extra servant to leave with the clothes.
"What invitations are there today?" Riddle stretched out his hand and asked the valet to help him put on his clothes. Just when the butler was about to report them one by one, he said, "Turn them all down. I think this matter is for you. Not difficult."
The steward serving on the side was shocked, but did not dare to question it. He buried his head lower: "Of course, I will comply with your wishes, my lord."
Riddle casually glanced at the emerald buttons on his cuffs, glanced at the butler in the mirror, and raised the corners of his mouth: "I hope to give a gift that expresses my wishes to a child of my choice. Please prepare it, and start from me. I will select a few decent pieces from my collection, and then contact Lucius, who will personally deliver these to young Mr. Bagshot to express my good intentions."
After that, he casually mentioned a few more items and asked the butler to choose gifts that were at least equal to them. Based on the butler's sophisticated vision and knowledge, each of them was valuable and not suitable for gifting to an unknown person. Gratuitous student stuff.
This made the butler, whose temples were turning gray, almost unable to restrain his shock. But after all, he was an experienced old man who had served Riddle for almost ten years, so without any doubt, he bowed deeply and prepared to take his assistant to prepare gifts for this distinguished man.
"You are so generous. Mr. Bagshot will definitely burst into tears for such kindness." Before going out, the butler lost no time in saying something to please his master.
As soon as he said this, he saw his master laughing heartily.
"No, no, no," Riddle took a sweet grape from the fruit plate held by the valet, took a bite, and sipped the sweet juice with his thin lips. There was a hint of determination in his eyes. , "What I want is not just his tears of gratitude - I want him to stay up all night because of it, but also be filled with joy."
The butler bowed again and respectfully withdrew.
Riddle looked at the obsidian ring on his hand, gently stroking its glossy surface with his fingertips. After a moment, he moved it from his thumb to his middle finger, even though it wasn't the right size.
It doesn't matter. he thought idly. It won't be long before he has a new pair of rings forged.
…………
Harry sat curiously on a suspended black seat, looking at the overall black room. The walls and ceiling here are very dark, and you can't see the material or the specific size of the space. But as they came in, the sound of footsteps and their echoes were loud with every step they took.
After Draco explained his purpose, the door opened completely and motioned for them to enter. Then, two lights illuminated the two suspended seats, guiding them to walk over in the darkness and sit down - quite politely, but no tea or refreshments were served to them.
I thought drinking tea was a fixture in Britain. Harry thought silently in his mind.
"What's the problem?" The voice, which was neither male nor female and seemed to be a mixture of multiple people, said, "Please tell me in detail."
Draco raised his eyes, glanced left and right, crossed his arms and leaned on the back of the chair, without taking out any documents or instructions, and got straight to the point.
Harry was a little curious about this phenomenon - logically, the current staff should not know Draco personally, but Draco didn't show any identification other than shouting outside the door. But after thinking about it, he felt that this kind of department that could sign a 'time travel' contract should be used to this kind of situation. Or perhaps the documents they were carrying had unique connections with wizards from the Department of Mysteries, eliminating the need for them to confirm or consult magical records.
After all, when he came to this era, those documents also appeared beside him out of thin air.
"I always dream about memories that don't belong to me," Draco curled his lips and said, "But when I wake up, I completely forget it. If Harry hadn't been able to see it, I wouldn't have discovered that I was cursed."
After saying that, he started to complain again: "I thought you would ensure the safety of the people doing the task, but what happened? Is this the efficiency of your work - you don't care about anything except a contract?"
Harry: "…………"
Harry began to think about what had happened to Draco during his absence.
He looks like an angry citizen complaining to a consumer association.
Harry raised his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly.
"Please allow me to add a few points," he said cautiously and calmly. "Through the observation of dreams, we can confirm who these two dreams are related to - but the strange thing is that this phenomenon occurs silently. , lack of reason. We have reason to suspect that there may be hidden dangers, so we came to inquire and report the situation."
Harry looked at the source of the sound and smiled politely.
"If dreams like this continue to affect us, I think it's a very bad thing for the mission we're on." He subtly moved the matter from Draco's personal involvement to the mission as a whole, since he wasn't sure whether the Department of Mysteries To ensure personal safety, but since they need to complete the task, they must care about the task, "We are not people of this era. If someone can unknowingly affect our brains and memories, they can also steal things from our heads. , affecting reality and the future.”
For a moment, he was aware of the murmurs of multiple people talking around him, but even though his vision had improved a lot, he didn't see an extra person.
Suddenly, another beam of light was projected from above, shining in front of them. Only then did Harry realize that there was a curved table about ten meters away from them, with four or five people sitting sporadically behind it. They were all wearing faceless black cloaks, and their whole bodies were covered tightly. Looking from a distance, You won't even be able to tell the difference between men and women.
"Draco Malfoy, your proposal is valid," a clear, personal voice came from the top of the curved table, "Please take a few steps forward. We will check your personal situation to ensure that you can Passively guard all information from the future."
Sounds like a not too young lady. Harry judged.
"With all due respect," Harry said before Draco nodded, with a shy smile on his face, "How will you do the examination?"
Although this matter was generally a contract signed between Draco and the other party, considering that this contract was strangely inherited from Felton, Harry had to be somewhat vigilant - he knew too little about the Department of Mysteries. Currently in a dubious attitude.
Regardless of whether you are a friend or an enemy, if you have a choice, it is best to learn more about the other party's behavior and methods, and then invest more trust——
——This is what Emma taught him earnestly. Although it was different from Charles' usual behavior, Harry felt that this teaching was very reasonable.
"We will not do anything that violates the law. This is not allowed." The other party seemed to have noticed Harry's little thought and said bluntly, "This check will not harm the health of the executor - as for the use of You have no right to know the method. What we can reveal is that whether the executor is intact is also a very important part for us. As long as the executor does not actively violate discipline, his human rights are as inviolable as any wizard. "
Since the other party's attitude in answering was quite acceptable, Harry wisely did not continue to ask further questions and bowed towards the long table. But he also turned his attention to Draco, paying close attention to his condition.
Draco gave him a 'that's superfluous but I'm barely satisfied' look, and then walked forward swaggeringly.
He really wasn't worried at all - Felton hadn't been hunted down by the Department of Mysteries even though he was like that. He obeyed the rules so much, so what was he afraid of?
"Take out your contract, Draco Malfoy." A female voice, different from the one asking, sounded from the left, sounding much colder. "Take out your wand and put it against the contract document."
Draco and Harry were already prepared for this. As soon as the other party said this, Harry immediately took out all the written documents from his bag and floated them in front of Draco. The latter took them and put his wand on it casually. .
There was a crowd of people behind the long table, and then Harry noticed that someone knocked on the table - not with a finger or a wand, but a long one, much like the staff held by wizards in fairy tales. Long stick. The long stick appeared very suddenly, but it seemed as if it had been in the opponent's hand from the beginning. It tapped on the table, and Harry saw a magic circle light effect that he had only seen in movies swipe past and hit Draco quickly.
"!"
Even though he knew that this was most likely not a damaging spell, Harry still couldn't help but took a few steps forward and put his hand on Draco's shoulder.
If something goes wrong, I will run away with him. Harry thought a little anxiously.
The light effect of the magic circle hit Draco without any glitches - to be precise, it turned into a layer of golden light, covering both of them gently and quickly, like a cloak made of light. They were leaning down. At the same time, a magic circle with the same pattern also appeared on the document. This circular pattern rotates and flashes like a precision machine.
Harry could not understand all of its patterns, and could only identify that it was composed of ancient rune characters - this was not surprising, it was one of the oldest runes, and every word had power.
About three seconds later, the magic circle seemed to have completed its operation - while Draco was in a trance, a hazy black mist emerged from his body. At first glance, it was not something normal. Someone behind the long table made a sound and tapped the staff again. The mist stopped spreading outward and remained floating next to Draco.
"Someone has indeed tampered with you," the woman behind the long table said in a deep voice, "and it's also evil black magic."
Draco lowered his head and quietly rolled his eyes.
"What is the purpose of this magic?" Harry asked quickly, "Is it just a strange dream?"
"We initially believe that it affects people's subconscious," the woman said, manipulating the black mist to turn around under the golden light, as if observing it carefully, "In the field of black magic, we do not have omniscience and omnipotence, so we cannot Analyze how it is performed and who it comes from. In essence, it will gradually affect people's consciousness...or replace some of their memories and thoughts. Maybe you don't remember what you saw in your dreams, but its influence It won’t disappear just because you don’t remember it.”
Draco shuddered - disgusted.
"Am I being manipulated?" he asked.
"It's not that obvious type," the female voice said patiently, "but it might make you have thoughts that you don't even understand."
Harry raised his hands unbearably and said, "So can it be considered solved now?"
After all, the black mist has appeared and is floating around. Generally speaking, this means that the magic has been broken.
"If you are willing, it can be cracked in the next second." The person behind the long table said, "But under the current circumstances, we think we can make a deal with you - and the premise of the deal is to keep it for the time being. .”
Draco: "???"
What's up with the Department of Mysteries? ? They are so active in this era, how can they still make deals with others? He broke the news twenty years later, and the person on the other side didn’t let go!
"...Um," Harry hesitated for a moment, and then said firmly, "That won't work. This is dark magic, ma'am, and nothing else." At the same time, he raised his hand again in confusion and asked, "This is important for the mission. , or what are the benefits to you?"
"From your explanation, we learned some information," the female voice said, "It may be related to a secret incident many years ago. We have been investigating for a long time, but we have been unable to grasp the specific outline of this matter. This will not work."
Her voice was low, even sounding like a sigh or regret, but for some reason, Harry felt a chill.
'This won't work' doesn't sound like an exclamation, but a cold judgment.
"And this may be an opportunity." The female voice said, "And we can tell you the content of the deal now - you can think about it and make plans. If you agree, we will sign another magic contract to regulate both parties. .”
Draco narrowed his eyes and looked at Harry.
"Please tell me, my dear lady," Harry nodded, "We'd like to hear it."
Well, no matter what, since it is a temporary transaction, the other party will definitely come up with a very good 'price', and the content of this task must be very important, otherwise the Department of Mysteries, which has always been very 'free' to the task executors, will not So proactive.
Harry calculated clearly in his mind - it was better to listen than not to listen at all.
"We need you to sneak into Gaunt Manor and find a manuscript about wolfsbane potion and a wand from Tom Riddle." The female voice said unhurriedly, "If you can get these two things, you don't need to execute The subsequent mission—the contract between the Department of Mysteries and you will end here, and you will be able to return to the era where you belong immediately."
Harry suddenly felt that if he was holding something in his hand now, it would probably fall to the ground with a clang, just like what he was thinking - even if he had been prepared in his heart when he heard the mission and 'price' prepared by the Department of Mysteries. Also surprised.
You can go home soon! This is simply a 'price' based on their wishes, a temptation they can't refuse! And this task is definitely very difficult!
——For him, the Department of Mysteries is a department that exploits even minors, so of course there is no easy way home.
Draco frowned and said, "Does this have anything to do with the black magic in me?"
The female voice behind the long table said: "This black magic itself will not corrode your own health - but for this task, being able to watch this seemingly absent memory and pretend to be affected is very important to your approach. Tom Riddle is very beneficial."
"Tom Riddle?" Harry thought and thought of the 'Tom' he saw in his dream. "So, Tom Riddle is... the real name of the owner of Gaunt Manor?" he asked tactfully.
"That's right." said the person behind the long table. "Although the cursed person himself does not remember those memories, obviously you are not affected. This is your advantage. The Department of Mysteries is not omniscient and omnipotent," she repeated, " Therefore, we cannot take what we want out of thin air. They are closely guarded by Riddle himself. If they are taken away rashly, he may become suspicious, which will have a huge impact on the course of history."
Harry's mind was racing so fast - it was so weird that a Wolfsbane potion and a wand were actually worth the 'deal' offered by the Department of Mysteries. And these two items were actually closely guarded by the Dark Lord himself, and taking them away might have a huge impact on history.
At this moment, although the new wolfsbane potion is a major breakthrough in the history of potions, its own value is obviously quite limited - it is only effective for werewolves, and will hardly involve the interests of most people. As for the wand, Harry had done some research on this and knew that a good wand would make the wizard better at casting spells, but in fact, it itself had no magic power. Between a wand and a wizard, the key is not so much 'excellence' but 'suitability'.
I can hardly imagine a wand that would receive such attention—unless it shouldn't be around at this time. Harry thought.
"Or," the voice of the person behind the long table changed, "you can also choose to do another thing."
Draco and Harry were alert together.
If something is not said at the beginning, or even requires several things to set the stage, then it must be very difficult to handle.
"What is it?" Draco asked through gritted teeth, "Can you please consider that we are still underage wizards before making requests? Can't you find someone else to do it?"
"This thing is very simple and does not require any advanced magic," said a man behind the long table. "Did you know that there is a faceless portrait in Gaunt Manor?"
Harry immediately remembered what the other party was talking about - in the small 'resting' room in Riddle, there was a huge, faceless male portrait. And he immediately remembered that the young man with black hair and an unclear face was holding a wand in his hand!
Could that be the wand the Department of Mysteries needs?
"What do you want us to do with the portrait?" Harry asked tentatively, "Steal it?"
"No," it was a female voice who answered him this time, "The other task is - if you have the chance, burn this painting, the sooner the better."
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I have been working hard to explore various things recently... When writing the manuscript, I also tried to simplify some things to speed up the plot - let me finish writing this plot! I have already thought about various plots and even the proposal scene!
I hope I can update it the day after tomorrow (flag
Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution between 2020-09-09 23:59:11~2020-09-17 01:13:36~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the mines: Yunyin 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 30 bottles of sansk; 20 bottles of Thrush; 10 bottles of glassywindbell and Kranriep; 5 bottles of Zhushuang; 2 bottles of Baileymino;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
