HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Snape then devoted himself to the research on the Tears of the Unicorn.

West also got busy, using the Somerset family's connections and resources to start making plans.

"Will there be a three-way championship next semester?"

In the study, West was sitting at his desk, repeating the same sentence expressionlessly.

Caspard nodded. "Yes, patriarch, the news is true."

The Triwizard Tournament, which was interrupted in 1792 due to the high death toll, has been revived at the urging of the Ministry of Magic, just in time for Voldemort's impending return.

Was Voldemort lucky? Even when you're sleepy, someone offers you a pillow. The Triwizard Tournament being held at Hogwarts was undoubtedly a golden opportunity for Voldemort—an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

West smirked. He was also curious about how Voldemort would be resurrected. But then again, what's the point? How could he die again if he didn't live again?

"How interesting, isn't it?" West fiddled with the ring on his hand. "Voldemort is going to be resurrected, the Triwizard Tournament is going to be held again, and the fools in the Ministry of Magic are indulging in a false sense of peace, knowing absolutely nothing."

At this moment, Caspard handed over a scroll of parchment. "This is the latest intelligence from the Albanian forests. A local wizard claims to have seen a strange shadow writhing in the moonlight on several occasions."

West took the parchment, quickly scanned its contents, and his gaze paused on a certain line of text, “A talking snake?” he repeated softly, smiling knowingly.

He put down the parchment and asked, "Have you completed the task I entrusted to you?"

Caspard bowed his head and replied respectfully, "Yes, I have recruited thirty-two well-trained wizards in magical combat from a branch of the Somerset family..."

"Gather them together, training can begin," West thought, taking a roll of parchment from the table. "Let them practice the magic on it. Caspard, from today onwards, you are their chief instructor."

Caspard took the parchment, read it carefully, and couldn't hide the surprise on his face. "Yes, Master."

Kaspard bowed and withdrew.

West picked up the documents Caspard presented, which contained traces of Voldemort's past and might help him locate the Horcruxes he had hidden.

"Marvolo Ring, Slytherin Pendant Box, Hufflepuff Cup..." West listed the possible Horcruxes, deciding to start with the one he knew about, the Hufflepuff Cup.

Three days later, West appeared at a coffee shop next to Gringotts.

He sipped his coffee slowly until a woman came in through the door and stood in front of him.

"Master." The woman curtsied and straightened up without being servile or arrogant.

"Nova Blair?" West asked. "Please have a seat."

The Blair are a subsidiary family of the Somerset family, which has long since faded into obscurity after the Somerset disappeared. Nova is the daughter of the head of the Blair family and currently works as an unraveler in Gringotts.

“Yes,” Nova sat down, noticing that West had already cast a concealment spell, and simply said, “Lestrange’s vault is at the highest level of security, protected by a loyalty charm, and can only be opened by goblins and the vault’s owner. There’s a blind Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon guarding the vault, and goblins patrol it constantly.”

West cut to the chase, "Which fairy has permission to open the door?"

Nova said, "Guler, he's Lestrange's personal contact."

Nova then cast an invisibility spell on herself and left the café as if nothing had happened.

West finished his coffee and thought it tasted good.

"I'll pack one for Sievery later," he thought, standing up and walking to the counter to place his order.

Weiss ordered a black coffee and a velvet cake, smiling as he said, "I'll come back to pick them up in a bit, please hold them for me, thank you."

The waiter stole a glance at West's ethereal face, blushed, and nodded.

West walked to the entrance of Gringotts and went inside as if no one else was there.

Strangely, the elf who greeted him at the door seemed to be unable to see him.

Wester straightened his cuffs and walked in slowly.

He spent five days drawing a dark magic circle around Gringotts, which could control all the elves within Gringotts' territory, making them completely ignore him.

West found Gull, a small elf. He took out his wand and cast a standard Imperius spell on Gull, demanding that Gull take him to Bella's vault.

A cloud of mist clouded Gull's large eyes as he mechanically led West to the entrance of Bella's vault. Along the way, all the elves seemed blind, automatically ignoring them.

Only the blind Ukrainian Iron-bellied Dragon suddenly raised its mutilated nose, sniffed the air, and was struck by an almost invisible silver light in the next second.

The dragon's eyelids immediately became heavy, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"What happened? Why did this dragon fall?" Amidst the fairies' confusion and commotion, West whispered to the cursed Guler, "Lead the way."

Guller stopped in front of Lestrange's vault, mechanically slit his palm, and dripped blood onto the lock.

The vault doors gradually disappeared, revealing a cave-like vault before West, filled with mountains of gold and silver, exquisite goblets, silver armor, and strangely shaped animal hide specimens.

It's nowhere near as good as the Somersets, West thought.

West cast a dark magic check spell and discovered that the vault also contained a copying spell and a burning spell.

Guided by the spell, West quickly discovered the object carrying the aura of a soul—buried beneath a pile of gold and silver.

Once the source of the curse is identified, things will be much easier.

West removed the copying spell, then put on dragon-skin gloves and pulled an exquisite golden cup from the pile of gold and silver.

Sensing the soul fluctuations above, West laughed with pleasure. "How ironic, Helga's golden cup now contains the dirtiest fragments of souls."

West threw the golden cup into the alchemical ring, then followed Gull back the way he came.

When West returned to the coffee shop, the entire process took 29 minutes.

After taking the paper bag from the waiter, West used Apparition to return to Somerset Manor.

In the laboratory, Snape was carefully dripping unicorn tears into a boiling crucible. As the liquid touched the water, a burst of silver light illuminated his taut jawline.

"Unicorn tears and mandrake can be mixed..." Snape muttered to himself, his quill rapidly recording the potion's transformations on the parchment.

Having finally completed the first phase of the experiment, Snape looked up and found West leaning against the door, his eerie green eyes silently watching him.

The person who had been standing at the door for ages finally got Snape's attention.

West smiled and held up the paper bag in his hand. "I brought you coffee and cake. Take a break, Severus?"