Chương 64: Chapter 64
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Now that everyone could see each other, Bill stared at the two and said, "If we want to get out of here, we are going to need to trust each other. I do understand you would be cautious of me, but Ms. Rakepick and I never worked closely."
"But she was once your teacher at Hogwarts, wasn't she?"
Ethan's rhetoric seemed to amuse Bill as he disputed with a smile, "You two are Slytherins, aren't you? Would you say you are close to Snape?"
Ethan and Tracey both shook their heads, and Bill continued, "To be honest, I have been suspicious of Rakepick for a while now. I wasn't sure before, but I am now certain that she picked the twins with something in mind. We had several candidates more qualified than them, but they were all ignored. She chose these two instead, who were expelled from Bialsahar in their third year."
Tracey asked in a strangely flat voice that implied her question was not so much of a question: "So you think Rakepick chose them because she knew they would be greedy and try to steal the artefact, in turn offering themselves as sacrifices?"
This made Ethan look at her strangely. That last part was a bit of a reach, in his opinion. He did agree with it, but he was far from certain. And it was not that he believed that Tracey was not intelligent enough to come to this conclusion too, but she had said it with such confidence that it felt like she knew for sure it had been a sacrifice.
Bill did not share Ethan's doubts, though, as he nodded, emphasising, "She also kept mentioning the story of the Destined Prince over and over to them, detailing how an 'artefact of great power' had led to the death of the prince, but also the rise of a kingdom. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that they were meant to be nothing but sacrifices."
"Which means she must have the same plans for us."
There it was again, this certainty in her voice. Ethan considered he knew Tracey pretty well, and while she was full of confidence and thus was generally sure of herself, she was also smart enough to not take things at face value.
Did this mean she was being manipulated, as Ethan had almost been himself? Somehow, Ethan felt that their cases were different, and the earrings most certainly played a part in all of this.
Exposing her now would only make things harder for himself, however, so Ethan instead said, "Fine. The first thing we should do is find the others."
Tracey nodded, but Bilk asked, "What about this room? Are we sure there aren't any other dangers?"
Ethan appreciated the eldest Weasley son more and more.
"I can't sense anything, and neither could you. But there is definitely some magic at work, forcing that darkness on us. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do but move forward."
The other two nodded, and the group moved out of the room.
While they carefully walked through the ancient temple, wary of any traps, Ethan tried to connect to Miyuki using their bond, but while strong, their bond was not yet deep enough for this kind of long-distance connection.
Ethan was not sure how the bond between Miyuki and himself worked, as it was a rather unique circumstance. Still, it was something that never stopped growing.
"So, how are you guys fitting into Hogwarts? You like it?"
The question was so out of the blue that Ethan nearly tripped when he heard Bill ask it. Tracey answered with a large grin, "I love it! I was not expecting to be sorted into Slytherin, but I don't regret it! I made great friends, and we even won the House Cup!"
Bill smiled, huffing. "I heard about that. My brothers were vexed; Slytherin won it again, although I heard it was pretty close."
Tracey looked back at Ethan, punching his shoulder. "Hey, we deserve it! This guy fought an elder vampire to get it."
Ethan felt confused by Tracey's condition, as she seemed to be hopping between being herself and not. Still, he showed an awkward smile and said, "I would rather have lost the House Cup. I'll be keeping the scars for my whole life."
Tracey looked guilty, which only served to confuse Ethan more. Was it just his paranoia messing with him?
Manipulation was an extremely hard thing to pull off, and it was virtually impossible for it to be perfect. Even one of the Unforgivable Curses, Imperius, would result in a visible change, the victim becoming a puppet.
That was not just a fault of human magic being faulty either, as even the Charm ability of Kitsunes or the Compulsion of Vampires, while capable of forcing other creatures into their bidding, would always result in cracks and distortions into the psyche and personality of the victims.
But Tracey here was being her real self; to a point, Ethan found it hard to believe she could be manipulated. She may not have any mental defences, but even a muggle being manipulated would show flaws.
This left Ethan feeling perplexed.
Thinking that Ethan was feeling depressed over his scars, Bill chimed in, "You know, personally, I think your scar looks great. It makes you look like an adventurer," he said, looking around and snorting, "which I suppose you are, now that I think of it."
Ethan chortled, though not for the reason Bill imagined. It was his future knowledge instead, or alternate future knowledge, as he distinctly remembered that Bill would come to have his face scarred by a werewolf, making his words quite ironic.
Still, it resulted in the tension disappearing as Ethan changed the subject: "We've met your brothers. Well, briefly, since we're Slytherins and all, but they were pretty cool."
"Except for Ron. He was an ass."
Ethan widened his eyes at Tracey for her complete lack of tact, but Bill laughed merrily. "At least one of my brothers always manages to get under people's skins."
"I met Fred and George on my first day, and they were pretty fun, although I must admit I fear they will use my face to prank people someday. I heard about Percy, but I never spoke to him. As for Ron… he can be a little judgmental."
Bill smiled softly, thinking about his brother, and said, "You should try to get to know him. Being the second youngest isn't easy."
Tracey exclaimed, "Secondyoungest? There's one more?!"
That was Tracey alright.
Bill once again laughed, apparently hitting it up with the girl, "There are seven of us. Me, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. She is a year younger than you, so you should see her next year."
He spoke as if he was certain they would be getting out of the temple, which seemed to work on Tracey as she beamed, "I'd love to meet her then!"
"And I'm sure she would love meeting you too. As for Ron, knowing him he probably had beef with you, Grindelwald. Personally, I mean."
Ethan thought about it for a moment, remembering the scene as he said, "It was an ill attempt at protecting a fellow Gryffindor. I was going a little hard on one of his friends, and he insulted me. It wasn't anything bad, but it did leave a bad impression."
Tracey contributed 'helpfully', "Half of the school dideither hate you or think you were a Dark Lord, to be fair."
Ethan was about to retort something, when he stopped, his eyes widening as he took in the new room they arrived in.
The room had nothing special inside, and looked like the rest of the room. However, unlike the earlier ones, this one split off in three paths.
And above each path burned a fire of a different colour: White, purple and red.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực