"I want the exact location of Azkaban."
Ethan stated his price calmly.
Originally, he had considered squeezing money out of Quirrell instead, but lately he wasn't particularly short on spending money anymore. Besides, Quirrell had practically bankrupted himself purchasing the dragon egg.
Honestly, Ethan was a little confused by Quirrell's complete lack of criminal initiative.
Now that the man had officially become a Dark wizard, why not commit proper crimes?
Robbery.
Murder.
Blackmail.
The classics.
"Azkaban?" Quirrell looked genuinely confused. "Why would you want to go there?"
"Visiting relatives," Ethan replied briefly.
Technically, that wasn't even a lie.
He fully intended to investigate the "family connection" between himself and the Dementors.
Of course, that was only part of the reason.
The more important reason was something else entirely.
Helga Hufflepuff's Cup.
One of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
It currently sat inside the Lestrange vault at Gringotts.
And unless Ethan intended to personally rob one of the most secure vaults in wizarding Britain, he needed another approach.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
If he could obtain proof of Voldemort's survival and use it to manipulate Bellatrix, getting the Cup out openly would become dramatically easier.
After all, Ethan possessed an offer Bellatrix would never refuse.
The Dark Lord lives.
Prove your loyalty.
His plan requires your sacrifice.
A fanatic like Bellatrix would throw herself into hell smiling if Voldemort asked.
"Visiting relatives?" Quirrell repeated blankly. "I thought…"
"The experiments had test subjects too," Ethan replied casually.
Frankly, he was beginning to question how Quirrell had ever graduated from Ravenclaw. Had Voldemort permanently damaged the man's brain?
"A few days ago, I returned to Burke Manor and discovered some things there," Ethan continued vaguely. "I need to confirm certain information with someone inside Azkaban."
He had no intention of revealing too much about himself to either Quirrell or Voldemort.
"I know Azkaban's location…" Voldemort hissed weakly from the back of Quirrell's head. His voice flickered strangely now, likely because the effects of the previous unicorn blood were fading.
"I'll place the memory into Quirrell's mind… use Legilimency…"
Quirrell's face twisted unnaturally for a brief moment before the transfer finished.
Once he recovered, Ethan immediately used Legilimency on him.
Voldemort had visited Azkaban many times before.
Not as a prisoner.
As a recruiter.
He had gone there personally to win over the Dementors.
Although Azkaban's location couldn't normally be mapped, the concealment magic became meaningless once the location already existed inside someone's memory.
After carefully memorising the exact region of sea surrounding the prison island, Ethan withdrew from Quirrell's mind.
Quirrell now looked half-dead.
After suffering two consecutive mental intrusions, his expression had become disturbingly vacant.
At that moment, Ethan finally understood why Quirrell had become increasingly stupid after attaching Voldemort to the back of his skull.
"Good," Ethan said with satisfaction. "Deal completed."
Now he no longer needed to waste time drifting across the North Sea searching blindly for Azkaban.
After leaving Quirrell's office, Ethan didn't immediately return to Hagrid's hut for Ali.
Instead, he waited until after afternoon Herbology class.
By the time he arrived, Hagrid had already moved Ali back inside the cabin alongside the dragon egg.
Unfortunately, the environment indoors wasn't much better than outside anymore.
"Hagrid," Ethan said flatly, "Ali looks overheated."
That provided him with the perfect excuse to take her away again.
"I should bring her back to the Room of Requirement," he continued. "There's a magical room inside the castle where I've been keeping her. It's large, secure, and considerably cooler."
At this point, the Room of Requirement basically belonged exclusively to Ethan and the Count. As long as someone remained inside, the room wouldn't open for anyone else.
"Oh—Merlin's beard, yer right!" Hagrid slapped himself on the forehead. "I've been so focused on the dragon egg I completely forgot…"
[Scumbag.]
Ali glared at him furiously.
She hadn't received Butterbeer in three entire days.
"You are not becoming an alcoholic," Ethan informed her sternly.
Honestly, this situation was becoming concerning.
He had never once heard of unicorns developing Butterbeer addictions before.
After successfully rescuing Ali from Hagrid's overheated hut, Ethan immediately headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid was now so obsessed with maintaining the dragon egg's temperature that he barely noticed students entering or leaving the forest anymore.
Frankly, the man had become slightly insane.
There was absolutely no practical difference between six burning logs and seven.
"Can you locate a unicorn herd?" Ethan asked while walking deeper into the forest.
Then he paused thoughtfully.
"Wait. I should probably disguise you first."
After several colour-altering charms, Ali now appeared mostly white instead of black.
The unicorns themselves likely wouldn't notice the difference.
The centaurs, however, definitely would.
Some level of camouflage remained necessary.
[Can smell them.]
Ali lifted her head and sniffed the air.
Besides Ethan's scent, traces of countless unicorns lingered throughout the forest.
Together, they travelled deep into the Forbidden Forest until they finally reached a frozen lake surrounded by snow-covered trees.
A herd of unicorns rested nearby.
Several had broken a hole through the frozen surface so they could drink water. Their white coats blended almost perfectly into the surrounding snow, while soft mist drifted through the air around them like something out of a fairy tale.
Even Ethan had to admit they looked genuinely sacred.
A large male unicorn noticed Ethan and Ali immediately and trotted toward them.
[You are… from outside the forest?]
His voice sounded deep and calm.
Apparently he was the leader of the herd.
To Ethan's surprise, he could understand the unicorn perfectly.
Not just Ali.
The unicorn too.
[Yes,] Ali replied.
The unicorn leader approached cautiously before lowering his head to sniff around Ethan.
[You have children…]
Apparently, he had mistaken Ethan for part of the same species.
[Come. Quickly. You must be exhausted. We have food, water, and safety here.]
Safety.
What a beautiful lie.
Ethan trusted approximately none of it.
If he hadn't accepted Voldemort's request, Voldemort himself would eventually come here to slaughter another unicorn anyway.
Still, the ease with which Ethan infiltrated the herd felt genuinely absurd.
The unicorns seemed completely incapable of distinguishing him from one of their own.
Despite the obvious fact that Ethan looked absolutely nothing like a unicorn.
Apparently, unicorn society relied almost entirely on scent and magical kinship rather than eyesight.
Under normal circumstances, that probably worked perfectly well.
Unfortunately, no one had accounted for the possibility of hybrid nightmare creatures like Ethan existing.
[New members of our herd have arrived!]
The leader suddenly announced proudly toward the others resting beside the lake.
[New family?]
[Where?]
[Let me smell them!]
The entire herd immediately rushed over.
Within seconds, Ethan found himself completely surrounded by curious unicorns.
Several rubbed affectionately against him while others sniffed around his clothes and hair.
One horn nearly stabbed him directly in the eye.
After narrowly dodging the eighth attempted accidental impalement, Ethan finally managed to breathe again.
At this point, every single unicorn in the herd had rubbed against him at least once.
Honestly, he no longer felt remotely clean.
The scent of unicorns was surprisingly pleasant.
To Ethan, they smelled like vanilla ice cream.
No wonder unicorn hair got used in love potions.
[You can stay here,] the herd leader said gently to Ethan and Ali.
[The wizards outside cannot harm you here.]
Then his expression darkened slightly.
[A monster attacked one of our separated kin recently.]
[We must stay together now.]
....
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