Chapter 292: Enormous Pit

In the enveloping snowstorm of Smith Manor, as night fell, the window of the study still emitted light. Gabor Smith sat at the desk, flipping through the letters he had received recently.

On the cabinet beside the desk, numerous glass vials were placed, emanating silvery threads of memories.

Suddenly, a gentle knock sounded on the study door.

The house elf, a domesticated sprite, pushed the door open and bowed to the wizard at the desk. "Master, in another five minutes, the visitors will arrive."

The entire estate was well concealed; apart from a few important individuals, not even the Smith family knew of the manor's existence, let alone its location.

"I understand." Gabor Smith lifted the cold tea and finished it, then propped himself up on the table and stood, leisurely making his way toward the manor's hall.

Just as he arrived at the hall, the marble fireplace suddenly burst into a forest green flame, and Bard Brode emerged, bending over as he stepped out of the fireplace.

"What's going on? You actually used the inner route of the Floo Network?" Gabor Smith looked at Bard Brode, inquiring with confusion.

Currently, the Floo Network was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic's Floo Network Authority. Using the network made it difficult to hide from the Ministry, but there were still some places not monitored by the local Floo Networks, such as the internal Floo Network of Hogwarts, and the fireplace of Gabor Smith and his associates' secret manor.

"Have the others not arrived yet?" Bard Brode brushed off the soot from his black robe, glancing around.

"No, you're the first one." Gabor Smith faintly guessed the reason why they were gathering, knowing there couldn't be too many reasons to bring them together. Just then, flames rose up from the fireplace again.

"Good evening."

Tiberius Ogden emerged from the fireplace and greeted the two.

Mog MacDougal didn't keep them waiting for long; he quickly stepped out of the flaring fireplace.

"Now that everyone's here, let's discuss what's of utmost importance." Gabor Smith led them to a comfortable room within the manor. The house elf respectfully presented refreshments and then swiftly left.

"Regarding the matter of Rowena Smith." Bard Brode looked at Gabor Smith, furrowing his brows. "How much does he know?"

The other three all furrowed their brows. They were certain that none of the four present would reveal their secrets to others. Each member of the Wild Smiths would never disclose their exclusive secrets to outsiders.

Bard Brode placed a letter on the table, lightly tapped it with his wand, and the envelope unfolded on its own, revealing the contents inside. If Albert were here, he would realize this was the letter he wrote to Professor Brode, declaring that he had successfully mastered more intricate uses of ancient magical script. The letter also contained detailed information about what happened after entering Ravenclaw's chamber, including Rowena Smith's conjectures."

"Rowena probably doesn't know too much; he likely deduced a small amount from the Smith family's limited records," Gabor Smith continued, "He's not foolish, and he has ventured into Ravenclaw's chamber, so it's not surprising that he learned of the Wild Smith surname. Furthermore, I even suspect Albert Anderson and Isabelle MacDougal must also know something."

"The current question is, what does Rowena Smith intend to do?" Bard Brode furrowed his brows as a reminder, "Don't forget, he has been brooding over this matter for a while, and don't forget about Brear."

Brear MacDougal was the father of Isabelle and Katrine. When Brear was very young, he died mysteriously in a magical experiment gone awry.

Please note that this translation is based on the provided text and may not be a perfect representation of the original meaning.

"Brear, as a former candidate, though already eliminated, still remained a part of their loose circle. At that time, they suspected whether Brear's death was related to Rowena.

All four fell silent!

They all knew why Bard Brode had convened them. Both qualified candidates were at Hogwarts. If Rowena Smith suddenly went mad and eliminated them all, the new generation of Wild Smith heirs would be in trouble.

The selection of candidates was usually highly secretive, but the fact that Rowena was once a candidate and had been actively investigating made it not too difficult to uncover some traces.

Although the probability of him going mad was low, it still had to be taken seriously by the others.

There was no other way; Rowena Smith's obsession with this matter and some of his unsavory traits were the main reasons he wasn't chosen.

"In a few months, Rowena will likely leave Hogwarts on his own. During this time, I will keep an eye on them," Mog MacDougal took the initiative to take charge of this matter.

"If anything bad happens, I'll handle it," Gabor Smith's tone was calm. Even though Rowena Smith was his grandson, he couldn't cross certain lines.

For the Wild Smiths, only wizards who also inherited the surname could truly be considered family.

"As for the Book of Bronze, we'll let Albert put it back after Rowena leaves Hogwarts," Tiberius Ogden spoke up.

The meeting didn't last long before everyone dispersed.

Gabor Smith stood by the window, looking at the snow outside, murmuring, "Rowena, what exactly do you want?"

...

In the Room of Requirement, wearing earmuffs and ear protectors, Albert had no idea about all this. He was processing Mandrake roots, preparing to complete the Bane of the Banshee.

Due to being soaked in salt for a long time, those Mandrake roots had completely changed their appearance.

The Mandrake roots dehydrated by salt had become extraordinarily grotesque. If one had to describe it, they had truly suffered a gruesome death.

Albert prodded the dehydrated Mandrake root with a Truth Revealer, and a strong reaction occurred. There was no doubt that this thing hadn't died peacefully; it had truly become a Dark magical object.

The nearby rat had fallen into a coma ever since the Mandrake root was taken out of the salt. It was unclear if it was already dead.

Albert stuffed the Mandrake root into a bag made from a Grindylow's skin, which had been expanded using the Undetectable Extension Charm. Then, he placed it into a prepared silver container. Everything went very smoothly.

It wasn't until the Banshee's wail was completely sealed that Albert slowly took off his ear protectors and ear muffs, ensuring that the container he made could effectively contain it. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief.

If he failed, he estimated he would fall into a coma. His roommates would find him missing and would come looking for him in the Room of Requirement. Albert even left a set of instructions on parchment for them on what to do if he fell unconscious.

However, that contingency plan was now unnecessary and was thrown into the fireplace and burned.

Albert poked the Banshee's wail with a Truth Revealer. Surprisingly, there was no reaction at all, possibly due to the numerous layers of isolation.

Of course, the Banshee's wail fundamentally couldn't be considered a proper Dark magical object, so it was natural that it wouldn't display any skills.

Still, Albert was quite satisfied with this thing. All that remained was to find an opportunity to test its power. He remembered that Fred and George seemed eager to try it out, so he'd lend it to them to play with when the time came.

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(End of this chapter)