0261 The Cave (Part-2)

This was a huge hollow space inside the mountain. The cave was so high that even Bryan’s wand, which shone brightly, could not illuminate the top. It was like a dome that covered the whole lake, and they wondered how it was formed and supported. There were no stalactites or stalagmites, no signs of life or vegetation, only rocks and shadows.

From afar, a faint and greenish light flickered in the center of the lake, reflecting on the still and silent water below. It was like a will-o’-the-wisp, luring them to their doom. Apart from that light and the brilliance of Bryan’s wand, there was nothing but thick and heavy darkness all around, a darkness that seemed denser and more oppressive than normal, making one feel hopeless just by looking at it.

Kreacher curled up in fear, hiding behind Sirius’s legs. He remembered the terrible things that had happened here, and he shivered uncontrollably. Sirius and Remus were also awed by this miraculous sight, unable to utter a word.

‘Anti-Apparition, anti-flying, anti-summoning, magic sealing, curse’ – Bryan narrowed his eyes, gazing at the space above the lake, where countless types of powerful magic were swirling, his face slightly grim. He could sense the hostile and malicious intent of the magic, and he knew that it was designed to prevent anyone from reaching the island in the middle of the lake without following the ‘rules’. It was a formidable and ingenious defense, worthy of Voldemort’s cunning and paranoia.

Such a huge magic project was not done in a day.

He could imagine how much effort Voldemort had put into protecting his Horcrux.

And when Bryan looked at the smooth and black surface of the lake, he squinted his eyes, a hint of murderous aura emanating from his whole body.

It was Inferi!

Inferi were not something to be afraid of, even he himself had used them to teach young wizards, but…

Just by looking at a small area, Bryan could ‘see’ hundreds of Inferi, and judging by their clothes, they were all Muggles, and among these Muggles, there were men, women, old people, children, and even, Bryan saw a swollen baby who looked only one or two years old!

By extrapolating to the whole lake, there must be thousands or even tens of thousands of Muggles buried in the water, and turned into Inferi by magic!

Massacre, only a ruthless and inhuman massacre could produce such a number of Inferi, and the Wizarding world had no record or report of this brutal and extreme slaughter, perhaps because it was too horrible, and once it was exposed, it would be condemned by the whole world, and even the Wizarding world would be shaken, so the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle government chose to conceal it.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Remus and Sirius asked in unison.

They were not just students who had just graduated from Hogwarts, but experienced adult wizards, and they could sense the thick and indelible murderous aura that surrounded Bryan, who was staring at the black lake. This aura was so cold that it made them both feel a vague urge to turn and run.

“Nothing–”

Bryan breathed lightly, suppressing his emotions. He knew that he had to calm down, and focus on the task at hand.

“Kreacher, Regulus back then-“

Sirius thought of his brother, and quickly stopped dwelling on Bryan’s strangeness. He lowered his head and looked at Kreacher at his feet, his voice nasal, mixed with a trace of irrepressible sadness, as if he had a lump in his throat.

“Back then, where was he?”

“There is an island in the middle of the lake, Master Sirius–”

Kreacher sobbed, he did not dare to face Regulus’s death, he covered his gray eyes with his long fingers and pointed in the direction of the green light, his voice trembling and hoarse.

“Kreacher was there at that time, he saw Master Regulus being dragged under the water by those corpse’s hands. Kreacher tried to save him, but he couldn’t. He left him alone, he betrayed him. Kreacher is a bad elf, a bad elf!”

Hearing Kreacher’s words, Sirius felt a surge of grief and guilt, and he immediately rushed forward, as if he wanted to slide down the shore and swim over like before.

“Wait, Sirius!”

Remus grabbed his arm, and held him back with all his strength.

“Did you forget what Kreacher said, there are Inferi in this lake, and maybe a lot of them! You can’t just jump in, you’ll be killed!”

“Let me go, Remus!” Sirius shouted, his eyes red and wild. “I have to find Regulus, those Inferi can’t stop me!!”

Remus wanted to persuade him more, but Bryan said calmly.

“If he wants to die, why bother stopping him?”

Bryan’s words made Sirius quiet down, and he stopped trying to jump into the lake.

“Do you still remember the location of the boat, Kreacher?”

Seeing Sirius calm down, Bryan turned his attention to Kreacher. He ignored Sirius’s glare, and focused on the task at hand. 

“Kreacher remembers it’s over there, Mr. Watson.”

For so many years, Kreacher had been secretly trying to destroy the locket, and every time he failed, he would evoke the scene of Regulus’s death that he did not want to remember. Hearing the question, he jumped out from Sirius’s side, leaned his body against the rock wall, and led them to the right.

A few minutes later, they stopped at another place, but there was nothing there.

“Kreacher forgot the exact location of the boat.”

Kreacher said with a trembling voice, he banged his head against the rock wall, as a way to punish himself. 

Remus stopped his self-harm, and when he was about to ask Bryan, he saw Bryan passing by Kreacher, walking quickly forward, and finally stopping thirty feet away from them.

“I think I found it.”

Bryan reached out his hand from the narrow rock passage, grabbed something, and then tapped his fist with his wand in his other hand.

Immediately, a thick green copper chain suddenly emerged from the water, quickly extending to the shore, all the way to Bryan’s clenched fist. Seeing this, Bryan pulled his left hand back hard, and the copper chain suddenly ran wild, making a loud noise, and quickly pulled a small boat from the bottom of the lake. The boat was old and rusty, and it looked like it had been there for a long time.

“If I didn’t know the situation beforehand, Bryan,” Remus hurried over, staring at Bryan’s expressionless face, and said in a strange voice,

“I might think you’ve been here many times before.”

“How did you find it?” Sirius also expressed his curiosity.

“Where there is magic, the concentration of magic there is different from the surrounding environment, as long as the wizard has a slightly better perception, he should be able to find clues–”

Bryan looked at the boat leaning on the shore, which could only carry two people at most, and his face was thoughtful.

“This is probably Voldemort’s obstacle to prevent too many wizards from approaching the locket.”

He said, and he deduced the possible mechanism and purpose of the boat.

“Why, can’t we make this boat run more trips?”

Sirius wondered. He thought that they could just take turns to go to the island, and he didn’t see the problem.

“I think this boat will not return automatically once it reaches the island, unless it senses that the person who went ashore has died and, hmm, magic measurement. I see, it’s not about weight, but magic–”

Bryan muttered to himself, and no one could understand him. Remus and Sirius gave up thinking, and they waited eagerly for him to say what to do next. 

Bryan did not hesitate, he took a step forward, and jumped neatly into the center of the boat, and as he landed in the cabin, the boat sank heavily, and the waterline rose by five or six inches, and the boat shook violently, looking like it would capsize at any time. 

“Come back, Bryan!”

The two people on the shore shouted in unison, their voices full of panic and worry. They reached out their hands to fish for Bryan, who was standing in the middle of the cabin, balancing himself with difficulty. They wanted to pull him back to the shore, because they knew what would happen if he fell into the water. 

But after the shaking, the boat finally stabilized, and nothing happened. It seemed that the boat could still hold Bryan.

Bryan observed the edge of the boat, and he saw that there was only about an inch left, and the water would overflow and flood the cabin. He looked at Sirius and Remus on the shore, and roughly estimated, and he had an idea.

“Kreacher can apparate to the middle of the lake, you two come on, it won’t be too much trouble.”

He sounded confident and reassuring, but in fact, there were still problems. 

Sirius and Remus were both normal-sized adult wizards, and although their magic would not put too much burden on the boat, their size was indeed a big problem for the small cabin. The boat was barely big enough for one person, let alone two.

Bryan went through some trouble, and he used his wand to cast a spell on Sirius and turned him into Tom. He handed Tom to Remus, and told him to hug him tightly. Remus nodded, and he stepped on the boat, holding Tom in his arms. He felt the boat sink by half an inch, and he held his breath, hoping that it wouldn’t sink any further. The boat shook for a while, as if it was protesting the extra weight, but then it regained its calm. 

“Let’s go–”

With Bryan’s calm voice, the boat buzzed and trembled, gently accelerating from a standstill, and slowly heading towards the island in the lake. It cut through the dark and still water, leaving a faint trail behind it. 

The boat glided on the lake, surrounded by silence, except for the soft rustling sound of the bow cutting through the water. The boat moved on its own, without any need for them to steer, as if an invisible rope was pulling it towards the green light in the center of the lake. The light seemed to beckon them, like a siren’s song, but they knew it was a trap. Before long, they could no longer see the cave wall behind them, as if they were floating on the sea, only without any waves. The air was cold and damp, and they felt a chill in their bones.

The boat was not fast, and that gave the passengers enough time to ‘admire’ the corpses that floated under the water. They were pale and bloated, their eyes wide open and staring. Some of them wore tattered robes, others were naked, but all of them bore the mark of death. 

Bryan squinted his eyes, his cold and focused gaze fixed on the dead bodies that drifted past them, without saying a word. 

Remus pressed his lips tightly, every breath felt like a struggle, and so did Sirius in his arms. Remus held him close, feeling his heartbeat and his warmth, the only signs of life in this place of death. At this moment, those dark and bloody years came back to their minds. They remembered the friends they had lost, the battles they had fought, the horrors they had witnessed. 

No one would like the madness of death dancing and singing, and after a while, the people in the cabin looked away, hoping to reach the shore as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, the green light in the center of the lake became brighter, and the boat shook, as if it hit something and stopped. 

Kreacher was squatting on the water, eagerly waiting for them to arrive. He looked like a frightened rabbit, but he was loyal to his masters. 

Bryan did not waste any time, he jumped out of the cabin and walked forward a few steps, examining the island, while Remus also got off carefully with Sirius. They helped each other to stand, feeling the ground beneath their feet.

As Bryan had said, the ghostly boat did not return to the shore after they left, it just stayed there, waiting for them to return or die.

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