The alarms stopped, and the manor temporarily returned to peace.
"We have to hurry," Hermione whispered under the invisibility cloak. "Lucius could return at any time."
Lia didn't answer. She closed her eyes, her nostrils twitching slightly as she distinguished different "scents" in the complex air.
"This way." She tugged on Hermione's sleeve and pointed toward a dark corridor leading to the basement. "I smell it."
"Smell what?"
"The smell of the vault and the library." Lia opened her eyes, an excited light shining in her blue pupils. "The richest scent of Galleons and old parchment."
Hermione no longer hesitated and followed Lia; the two moved silently through the corridor until they reached a heavy iron door carved with snake patterns.
Hermione recognized the defensive runes on the door that were imbued with hexes; any forced breach would trigger a curse.
However, this was no challenge for Lia.
She signaled Hermione to cast a powerful Silencing Charm, then extended a finger, condensing a small ball of ghostly green light at her fingertip, and lightly tapped the core of the door's runes.
With a tooth-gritting sizzling sound, those malicious runes were rapidly dissolved as if devoured by a natural predator.
With another push from Lia, the heavy iron door slid open silently.
Behind the door was a vast underground space.
Hermione gasped.
On one side were mountains of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, with various magical jewels and antiques shimmering with an alluring luster under the torchlight.
On the other side were rows of towering bookshelves filled with various precious magical texts.
Many were unique copies that couldn't be found anywhere else, and there were even several Dark Arts forbidden books whose covers emitted an ominous aura.
This was the accumulation of the House of Malfoy over centuries.
"We've struck it rich," Hermione couldn't help but whisper in awe, but her gaze was fixed firmly on the rows of bookshelves, her eyes burning with intensity.
"Do it!" Hermione said decisively.
She unfastened her small beaded handbag and cast a spell on it.
The opening of the handbag instantly became like a bottomless black hole.
"Accio Books!" Hermione waved her wand, freezing the books on the shelves one by one before they flew into the handbag like a stream of water.
Lia was more purposeful; she walked directly to the Dark Arts bookshelf, scanning every book with her Eye of Truth to pick out the forbidden books containing ancient and powerful strength, then tossed them to Hermione.
The two cooperated with perfect chemistry and extreme efficiency.
The library that the House of Malfoy took such pride in was being emptied at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Just then, Lia's movements suddenly stopped. She picked up a plain-looking leather notebook and brought it to her nose to sniff.
"Hermione," she turned her head, her tone a bit strange, "this book has your mother's scent."
Hermione froze and took the notebook.
Opening the first page, a line of elegant handwriting came into view.
"Granger Family Cooking Notes."
Hermione's heart gave a violent thud.
She recognized it; this was her mother's handwriting.
This notebook was something her mother had spent several nights putting together before she started school, fearing she wouldn't get used to the food at Hogwarts; it was a collection of home-cooked recipes filled with cute sketches.
She had accidentally lost it in Diagon Alley during her first year.
How could it be here?
Hermione's hand trembled as she flipped to the last page and saw a line of scrawled notes in quill, written in Lucius Malfoy's nauseating handwriting: "An object belonging to a mudblood, tainted with the scent of her kin; perhaps it can be used in research for some kind of blood curse."
A chill ran from Hermione's spine to the top of her head.
Lucius Malfoy had been targeting her since many years ago.
Lia looked at Hermione's face, which had instantly turned icy, and she reached out to gently touch the notebook.
"He wanted to use this to hurt you," Lia's voice was very soft. "So, we're going to take back double."
She turned around, walking toward the mountain of Galleons, and then made a move that left Hermione dumbfounded.
Lia spread her hands, a massive surge of magical power erupted, and all the metal objects in the entire vault began to hum.
She gave a low shout, and the piles of Galleons and jewelry were seized as if by an invisible giant hand, frantically surging into her small pocket. That pocket had clearly also been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
However, the Malfoy family's wealth was truly staggering. Even though Lia was using her full strength, she only managed to make that mountain of gold shrink by a visible half.
After finishing her big talk, Lia looked at the still-massive mountain of gold before her, her movements stiffening. She turned back to Hermione with some embarrassment, the tips of her snow-white cat ears flushing slightly red.
"Hermione..." she spoke softly, with a hint of grievance and a plea for help.
"It seems... it seems I can't finish taking it all, even if I double it..."
[The image I had while writing this was someone who just finished talking big like "Tonight I'm the top!", only to be overwhelmed until they're dizzy in the next moment...]
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