The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 743: Fog of War
Because they hadn't seen Voldemort for a long time, Ryan and the others were extremely nervous. Under such great pressure, Dumbledore would often leave Hogwarts and go to the front line in London to avoid too much loss if Voldemort attacked and no one could resist him.

Also because of the threat from Voldemort, Ryan and Hermione were often not at the manor during this period. They chose to stay on the floating fortress most of the time, ready to reinforce various locations at any time.

In this tense state, time came to May. At noon on the first day of May, Hermione walked into the observation room of the Core Magic Tower with a plate of salmon sandwiches and a pot of black tea on a silver tray.

After the stone door slid open, Hermione saw Ryan standing on a three-tier stone platform in the center of the observation room. On this platform, a crystal ball larger than a human head was quietly suspended in front of him, emitting purple ripples one after another.

The moment the ripples touched the wall, translucent images began to appear on the wall one after another. Hermione recognized that these images were from downtown London, from near Hogsmeade, and there were also a lot of images from places she didn't recognize.

"Have you had lunch?" Ryan waved his wand gently after finding Hermione carrying a plate of food in. The crystal ball immediately fell slowly and landed on a white stone platform engraved with runes. "It's really troublesome for you to bring it over."

"It's okay," Hermione smiled and tapped the wall with her wand. Soon, three stone slabs, one high and two low, extended directly from the wall. It just formed a simple table and two seats facing each other. Then she put down the plate in her hand, picked up a sandwich, and handed one to Ryan who had just walked out of the observation room.

After taking a bite of the sandwich in her hand, Hermione raised her head and asked Ryan, who was sitting opposite her and drinking black tea, "How was the result of your investigation today? Did you find any major changes compared to the previous few days?"

"There are indeed many differences from the past few days." Ryan put down the cup of tea and nodded. "For example, the activity of all Death Eaters in downtown London has dropped to an extremely low level. They even gave up Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley yesterday. I saw that the staff of the Ministry of Magic in Hogsmeade have reoccupied these places this morning."

"What about Gringotts?" Hermione asked a key question, "Has the Ministry of Magic taken over Gringotts this time? I hope they won't allow Gringotts to provide wealth to those Death Eaters as they did before."

"They have completely blocked Gringotts now." Ryan said what he had seen before, "But maybe because they don't have enough manpower, they didn't enter Gringotts, but directly blocked Gringotts. But you don't have to worry about the goblins. They have a series of complex underground tunnel systems under the bank, and there are even places dedicated to growing mushrooms and certain plants, which can allow them to live for a long time."

"For us, after the war, Gringotts, which has been deprived of its coinage and monopoly power, is just an ordinary bank. This medieval-style bank will never be a rival to a modern bank."

"As for the risk of goblins rebelling after depriving them of so many rights, that possibility no longer exists after they kneel to Voldemort. For all intelligent creatures in this world, as long as they kneel once, they will habitually continue to kneel for the rest of the time."

"That is to say, all the Death Eaters in London are now hiding in the basement of the Ministry of Magic, preparing for a final battle with us." Hermione raised her head and stared at Ryan.

"Yes, the final battle will definitely be bloody." Ryan nodded. "Because according to the investigation of the wizards in Diagon Alley yesterday, the Death Eaters looted a large amount of supplies from their shops before retreating to the Ministry of Magic. It seems that they intend to fight a real defensive battle in the Ministry of Magic, instead of collapsing at the first blow like now."

"To be honest, a place like the Ministry of Magic is indeed suitable for a defensive war." Hermione said after taking a bite of the sandwich, "There are only a few entrances and exits, plus a complex underground environment. If I were with a group of ragtag people, I would definitely choose that place for defense. At least it can avoid the embarrassment of everyone running away after the war breaks out." "You are right." Ryan frowned at this. "But I still haven't locked the location of the mysterious man, even though I have almost spread the heart trees all over Britain and controlled many animals to monitor this land 24 hours a day. This makes me very uneasy."

"How is it possible that there is no trace at all?" Hermione frowned. "If the You-Know-Who was alone, I could understand it, but he brought with him a large number of Death Eaters, as well as a large amount of supplies and wealth. It's impossible for so many people to disappear inexplicably."

"From the information we got from Headmaster Dumbledore, we can confirm that the mysterious man and his men have not left the UK. But we haven't found their exact location yet." Ryan shrugged. "We all agree that there is probably some secret base in the UK that we don't know about, and it is very concealed. He and his lackeys are now preparing to launch a large-scale attack plan in the base."

"This - is very likely!" Hermione said slowly while holding up the teacup, "Just like our floating fortress, no one else knows about this place except the two of us. It's normal for a dark wizard like the You-Know-Who who has wreaked havoc on a region for decades to have a secret base that belongs only to him."

"So that's why I haven't found him yet." Ryan, who had finished his sandwich, spread his hands and said, "It's hard to find a place like this in such a large area of ​​the British Isles."

"But I'm prepared for the worst." Ryan said as he stomped his feet lightly, and the ground immediately became transparent. Through the ground, Hermione saw rows of puppets that had curled themselves into ellipsoids and were quietly waiting there. "We have already stockpiled 3000 puppets, and I plan to prepare to ensure that we always have a mobile force that can withstand the attack at any time."

"I think 3000 puppets may not be enough." Hermione put forward her own opinion. "It's better to have more of these consumables. If there are only 3000, I'm worried that they may not be enough."

"Don't worry, I thought of that, too." Ryan waved his hand, and a projection of a warehouse immediately appeared in the air. Inside, there were densely packed armed steam robots more than two people tall. In addition to steam machine guns, they also had a large number of dormant magical plants. "These purely mechanical creations are not affected by magic, and after being strengthened by my alchemy, they also have a certain degree of defense against magical attacks."

"Although these machines are not as useful as those puppets and can be easily destroyed by magic, I have prepared 6000 of them in the folding space under the floating fortress. If a war really breaks out, they can be mixed with those magic puppets to buy us enough time and cover."

"That's good, as long as we are well prepared." Hermione rubbed her temple. Recently, Voldemort has been hiding and it has brought a lot of pressure to everyone. So after hearing that Ryan was fully prepared, she looked a lot more relaxed.

Just as the two of them finished their meal and were about to take a rest, a reminder sound suddenly rang in the corridor.

"Someone is looking for us at the gate of the manor. Who could it be?" Looking at the reminder rune floating in the air, Hermione felt a little strange. "Who would come here to visit at this time?"

(End of this chapter)