At night, in the snow-covered Smith Manor, the light was still on in the study window. Gerber Smith was sitting at the desk, reading the envelope he had received a while ago.
On the cabinet next to the desk, there are countless glass bottles, filled with silver-like fragments of memories.
Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the study door.
The house elf pushed the door open, bowed to the wizard at the desk and said, "Master, the visitor will arrive in five minutes."
The entire manor was well hidden. Except for those important people, no one in the Smith family knew of the existence of the manor, let alone its location.
"I understand." Gerber Smith picked up the cold tea and drank it, then stretched out his hand to support himself on the table and stood up, then walked slowly towards the hall of the manor.
As soon as I arrived in the hall, I saw the marble fireplace suddenly turned into a dark green flame, and Bud Brod walked out of the fireplace with his back bent.
"What happened? Why did they use the internal Floo network?" Gerber Smith looked at Bud Broad and asked in confusion.
Nowadays, the Floo Network is controlled by the Floo Network Management Bureau of the Ministry of Magic. It is difficult to hide the use of the Floo Network from the Ministry of Magic, but there are still some places that are not monitored by the local Floo Network, such as the internal Floo network of Hogwarts, and the fireplace of the secret manor of Gerber Smith and others.
"Has the rest of the gang not arrived yet?" Bad Brod brushed off the ashes on his black robe and looked around.
"No, you are the first." Gerber Smith vaguely guessed that there couldn't be many reasons for them to get together. At this moment, the fire in the fireplace started again.
"Good evening."
Tiberius Ogden came out from the fireplace and greeted the two men.
Mog MacDougal did not keep them waiting for long, and soon emerged from the blazing fireplace.
"Everyone is here, let's talk about something important." Gerber Smith took them to a comfortable room somewhere in the manor. The house-elf respectfully served them tea and snacks, then quickly turned and left.
"About Rowena Smith." Bud Brode looked at Gerber Smith and asked with a frown, "How much does he know?"
The other three all frowned. They were sure that the four people present would never reveal their affairs to others. Every Wildsmith would not reveal their own secrets to others.
Bard Brod placed a letter on the table, picked up his wand and tapped it lightly. The envelope automatically unfolded and began to read the contents. If Albert was here, he would find that this letter was written by him to Professor Brod, saying that he had successfully mastered the more advanced usage of ancient magic runes, and it also included the details of what happened after entering Ravenclaw's Chamber of Secrets. Of course, it also included Rowena Smith's speculation. "
"Rowena certainly doesn't know too much. He probably only inferred it from a few documents of the Smith family." Gerber Smith continued, "He is not stupid. He must have guessed something. He also entered the Ravenclaw Chamber of Secrets. It is not surprising that he knows the last name Wildsmith. Moreover, I even suspect that Albert Anderson and Isobel MacDougal must know something."
"The question now is, what does Rowena Smith want to do?" Bud Brod frowned and reminded, "Don't forget, he has been brooding over this matter. Don't forget about Blair."
Blair McDougal is the father of Isobel and Katrina. When Blair was still very young, he died inexplicably in an accident during a magic experiment.
Although Blair, a former candidate, had been eliminated, he was still a member of their loose circle. At that time, they suspected that Blair's death was related to Rowena.
All four of them were silent!
They all knew why Bud Brod had summoned them. The two qualified candidates were both in Hogwarts. If Rowena Smith suddenly went crazy and killed them all, the new generation of Wildsmith heirs would be doomed.
The selection of candidates was usually very secretive, but since Rowena had once been a candidate and was determined to investigate, it wasn't difficult to find some clues.
Although the probability of him going crazy is very small, it still has to attract the attention of several people.
There is no way. It was because Rowena Smith was too obsessed with this matter and some of his character traits were too bad. This was also the main reason why Rowena was not chosen.
"In a few months, Rowena should leave Hogwarts on her own initiative. I will keep an eye on them during the next period of time." Mog MacDoug took the initiative to take over the matter.
"If something bad really happens, I will take care of it." Gerber Smith's tone was calm. Even though Rowena Smith was his grandson, he could not do anything that crossed the line.
For Wildsmith, only wizards who also inherited the same surname could be considered true relatives.
"As for the bronze book, let Albert put it back after Rowena leaves Hogwarts." Tiberus Ogden said.
The party didn't last long and everyone dispersed.
Gerber Smith stood by the window, looking at the snow outside, and murmured, "Rowena, what do you want to do?"
…
In the Room of Requirement, Albert, wearing earplugs and earmuffs, was unaware of this. He was processing Mandrake roots, preparing to completely complete the Banshee's Wail.
The thing had been completely changed in appearance because it had been stuffed in salt and pickled for a long time.
The mandrake roots dehydrated by salt became extremely hideous. If I had to describe it, it would be that they died a very miserable death.
Albert poked the dehydrated mandrake root with an honesty detector, and sure enough, there was a strong reaction. There was no doubt that this thing was unwilling to rest in peace and had truly become a black magic prop.
The mouse next to it had fallen into a coma when the mandrake root was taken out of the salt, and it was unknown whether it was dead.
Albert stuffed the mandrake roots into a bag made of swamp digger skin, which had its capacity expanded by a traceless extension spell, and then put it into a silver container prepared in advance. Everything went very smoothly.
It was not until the Banshee's Howl was completely shut down that Albert slowly took off his earmuffs and unplugged his earplugs. He was sure that the container he had made could effectively contain it, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
If he failed, he would probably fall into a coma. If his roommates found out that he had not returned, they would come to the Room of Requirement to find him according to his request. Albert even wrote down on parchment the steps for what to do if he fell into a coma.
However, the latter trick was no longer useful, so Albert threw it into the fireplace and burned it.
Albert poked the Banshee's Howl with the honesty detector, but there was no reaction at all. He didn't know if it was because there were too many layers of isolation.
Of course, the Banshee's Howl is not essentially a qualified black magic item, so it is naturally impossible for it to have any skills on the panel.
However, Albert was quite satisfied with this thing. All he had to do next was find an opportunity to test its power. He remembered that Fred and George seemed eager to try it out, so he would lend it to them to play with first.