Chapter 364 The Shadow of Death

( ) "...Severus, this is the last thing I want from you...give this to Tom, and give this to Maca...you know what to do...they all have their own ways the way..."

In the basement of the main castle of Hogwarts, in the Potions professor's office, Snape sat behind the desk expressionlessly, staring at the table quietly with a pair of cold black eyes.

In front of him was a small glass tube filled with flocs.

Although it looks like it should be a materialized memory, if it is placed in a Pensieve, its contents should be able to be interpreted. But the flocs in the glass tube in front of him are not normal silvery white, but rather pure bright silvery.

Originally, there should have been a torn wand on the table, which was the thing that would eventually be handed over to Voldemort. But for now, the wand remained where it should be.

And the remaining small glass tube is reserved for Maca.

At this moment, the whole of Hogwarts was very quiet. It was an inexplicable silence, as if some indescribable ominousness enveloped the castle, making one a little breathless.

Almost all the teachers and students gathered in the vestibule, which was a slightly withered lawn.

The recent weather is obviously a bit cold, but there are too many people gathered here. When there were so many people, it seemed that even the air was soaked by everyone's body temperature, and it became slightly warmer.

But even so, everyone's hearts were cold.

These days, the night after night has been cloudy. Although it will always be sunny during the day, but this afternoon, it seems that I finally can't stand it anymore...

A wave of moisture surged in the soil where the withered grass took root, as if to herald the coming rainy night.

At this time, maybe Snape is not here alone?

At this moment when Hogwarts was silent, the space beside the driveway outside the school gate suddenly distorted, and a figure appeared quietly.

"...I always feel a strange sense of déjà vu. What is the blood curse of the Bulova family?"

What appeared there was Maca who had just returned from the dark alley next to the Dark Spirit Pavilion. After Mr. Blois manifested with his entourage and took Willie directly back to Blois Castle, Maca immediately came to Hogwarts.

According to Mr. Blois, the title page of the ancient genealogy does not indicate whether it can be sealed again, but it should still be possible in theory.

So he immediately decided to take his daughter home.

As for Maca, although he didn't have time to talk to Willy's father, he at least conveyed his research results on bloodline modification to Mr. Blois.

Regardless of whether the other party believes it or not, anyway, under the premise that Voldemort has broken his promise, his suggestion should be reconsidered by Mr. Blois.

In fact, if possible, Maca really wanted to go to Blois Castle with Willy.

"...the curse of the bloodline...the sealing magic...the flower of the mystery crystal...the origin of the veela...the ancient desert country that perished...a huge disaster..."

Maca, who was immersed in thinking, hadn't noticed any abnormalities in Hogwarts yet. He just unlocked the defensive magic on the front door, then opened the tall fence door and walked in.

Even after stepping into the campus, he subconsciously added a new defensive magic.

Following his footsteps, the stave, which was nearly the same height, tapped lightly on the ground all the way, unintentionally breaking the dead silence in the campus.

"'Disaster'...?"

A series of key words mentioned in the story told by Willy flashed through Maca's mind one by one, and finally stopped at the word "disaster".

"what!"

When several images suddenly appeared in Maca's mind, he couldn't help but let out a low cry.

"Is it possible that this 'curse' has anything to do with the Bewitching Monument?"

In the stone room at that time, the power of the Bewitching Monument in Voldemort's body obviously counterattacked. What caused this to happen was the power of the curse that erupted from Willie's release of the seal.

Looking at the common ground between the two, they both caused huge "disasters".

"The Bewitching Monument, the Cursed Bloodline... and the Gryffindor Sword and the Floor-to-ceiling Mirror described in the mural of the despicable Helbo's tomb... Could they be the same thing?"

In confusion, Maca lowered his eyes slightly, constantly urging his thoughts to turn sharply. But when he got closer and closer to Hogwarts Castle, he finally felt something was wrong.

He suddenly raised his head, trying to find the source of that strange feeling. But he didn't need to look much, he saw the group of figures standing silently in front of the castle at a glance.

"This..." Upon seeing this scene, Maka suddenly remembered what Voldemort had said, "Stop joking...this...isn't possible?"

In front of him, a large number of young wizards gathered on the lawn to form a pile, their heads bowed silently. And in the innermost part of the crowd, there seemed to be some professors standing.

Maca hurriedly took out a magic book, flung it forward and stepped on it, quickly passed over the horse path, across the lawn, and over the heads of the little wizards, blowing into the circle like a gust of wind.

Many people noticed his arrival, and everyone's eyes followed his figure subconsciously until he landed on the innermost side.

"Maca." "McLean."

Many people called him out of habit, but he didn't pay attention, he just stared at the lawn surrounded by everyone in astonishment.

There, there was an old wizard with white beard and hair, lying on the ground with a peaceful face.

A pair of half-moon glasses had been broken, hanging crookedly on his left ear; there was also a broken wand, which fell to the edge of the grass not far away.

And the pair of blue eyes on the old wizard's face had already lost the look that should be full of wisdom.

"……baffling."

Maca stared at it for a long time, but only squeezed out this sentence.

It's just that before the words were settled, he suddenly waved his staff, and a wave of magic power immediately spread to the old wizard. But soon, Maca frowned again after receiving the feedback.

Obviously, there was no breath of life in that body. Not only that, even the magic power in his body did not voluntarily stop Maca's exploration, but continued to escape outside the body.

"Everyone stand back, I need to do a deeper inspection."

In Maka's unquestionable words, both students and professors backed away with complex expressions. In the crowd, Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at him worriedly.

Especially Hermione, her eyes were bloodshot and her eye sockets were red, as if she had shed a lot of tears.

On the other side, Luna just looked at Maca silently, not knowing what she was thinking.

After everyone cleared a space, Maca slammed the staff in his hand. A black mist skull passed under the old wizard's body soundlessly, then soared into the air extremely smoothly, rushing towards the sky.

This kind of magic full of the feeling of black magic made everyone feel uneasy. But under the current situation, Maka's unscrupulous appearance as a spellcaster made people feel more secure.

"How is it?" Professor McGonagall, who stood at the front of the crowd, held his handkerchief tightly and asked with that insignificant expectation.

Maca turned around slowly, shaking her head with a gloomy expression.

"There is no soul in the body anymore." He took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and then said heavily, "Dumbledore... has gone..."

Maca's words seemed to turn on a stuck switch, and a series of commotion and crying suddenly sounded in the crowd. Fear and sadness were mixed together, causing the already extremely depressive atmosphere to explode all of a sudden.

"...Albus."

Professor McGonagall wiped his eye sockets with a handkerchief, his voice trembling.

"Professor McGonagall," Maca walked up to her, first patted her on the shoulder, and then said seriously, "Now is not the time to cry, I believe that Professor Dumbledore would not want to see this scene... ..."

After that, he turned his head to look at the little wizards behind Mag, and looked around for a while.

"Students, be quiet and listen to me!"

His voice was clear and loud, and under the effect of magic, it spread to everyone's ears.

"No matter what happened, Hogwarts is still here, we have nothing to fear! Although Dumbledore is gone, he must have left to protect Hogwarts and us—"

"He was born in Hogwarts just like us. This is his home, and it's also my home, our common home!"

"He's fearless for Hogwarts, and we can be fearless too. No matter what we're facing, we should be brave, because—"

Speaking of this, Maca swung his staff vigorously, and a dazzling blue-white beam of light burst out suddenly, breaking straight through the thick clouds above his head, and piercing straight into the sky.

In an instant, the beam of light dissipated silently, and a ray of golden sunlight fell through the hole between the clouds.

"Because we are Hogwarts!"

When everyone raised their necks and looked up, Maca patted Professor McGonagall on the arm again.

"The rest will be left to you. Let everyone go back to the castle as soon as possible—and what's more, patrols need to be arranged immediately within the school to prepare for any eventuality."

At this time, at the gate of Hogwarts Castle, Snape also came out. He was standing by the steps in front of the door, looking up at the sky like everyone else, with yearning and nostalgia in his eyes.

Perhaps most wizards have longed for powerful magic, and some of them have talents and have made unremitting efforts. Obviously, Snape was one of them.

He had been obsessed with the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and it was easy to see why.

"Professor Snape?" Maca walked to the bottom of the steps and called out.

"Ok."

Snape glanced down at him, then turned and walked inside.

"……follow me."