My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 409, Section 407: The Vanished Gaunt Ring

Chapter 410, Section 407: The Vanished Gaunt Ring

Just as Bella successfully retrieved the locket from the Black family, Malfoy arrived in Little Hangleton with a group of Death Eaters.

The address Peter got from Voldemort wasn't easy to find.

Little Hangleton is a Muggle town, and Gaunt's Old House, a wizard's residence, obviously wouldn't be built in a Muggle enclave.

Malfoy's group of Death Eaters searched the vicinity of the town for almost a day before finally finding an old, dilapidated house about four or five kilometers away from Little Hangleton.

The walls of the house were covered with moss, many of the roof tiles had fallen off, and the rafters were exposed here and there.

The surrounding area was covered with dense nettles, which grew so tall that they reached the windows, which were very small and filled with thick layers of old grime.

The most conspicuous thing was the dead snake nailed to the door, which had been turned into a specimen.

"This is it. This house perfectly matches the owner's description."

Peter was naturally with Malfoy.

He was the first person to hear Voldemort describe the location directly, and the Black family's ancestral home was even accessible to Bella, a former member of the Black family.

Peter insisted on going with them to the Gaunt mansion, a place completely unfamiliar to them.

After receiving confirmation from Peter, Malfoy took the lead and pushed open the wooden door that looked like it would collapse at the slightest touch.

A choking cloud of dust suddenly hit him, causing even a pampered man like Malfoy to cover his mouth and nose and furrow his brow.

Inside, there was a jumble of old, broken furniture, and every item and the floor were covered in dust.

"Whose house is this? It's probably been uninhabited for decades."

One of the Death Eaters muttered something, but no one answered his question.

Peter did not go inside, but stood at the doorway and gave orders to the Death Eaters.

"Search quickly! Don't worry about whose house this is; we're here to find something, not for archaeology!"

None of the Death Eaters here were from the group that escaped from Azkaban, otherwise Peter wouldn't have dared to speak so arrogantly.

Malfoy followed them into the house, but instead of searching around like the other Death Eaters, he squatted down, frowning as he looked at something.

Peter stood in front of the door, feeling as if the dead snake nailed to it was staring at him with empty eyes.

He couldn't help but shudder, then walked over to Malfoy's side.

"What are you looking at?"

Malfoy pointed to the dusty ground.

"When we came in, there was a long trail here."

Peter sensed something odd about Malfoy's words and looked around.

"You mean someone was here before we arrived?"

Malfoy squinted and shook his head.

"Look closely, these aren't human footprints, but rather what looks like something slid across from here."

The mark he was pointing to was not obvious, because it was not without dust, but the dust was very light and did not give people a sense of antiquity like other places.

"Ah, we've found a trace, something unusual, but what's the use?"

Peter said impatiently.

Since arriving at this old house, he has been somewhat restless and has shown little patience.

Malfoy stood up and clapped his hands.

"It may be of no use, or it may be related to our life and death."

He said it casually, then stopped paying attention to the discovery on the ground and instead looked at the Death Eaters who were searching for the ring.

This old house is not large; compared to the Malfoy family's mansion, it could even be described as tiny.

The Death Eaters ransacked the place for a while, basically searching everything.

"No one found the ring?" Peter asked incredulously in a loud voice.

The final result was not good; the Death Eaters found nothing related to the ring in the old house.

They didn't even find a tiny ring.

"That's impossible! The master said it's here, so it must be here! Keep looking! We have to find it!"

Peter looked very anxious.

Peter knew Voldemort's methods well, and he didn't even dare to think about the consequences if he didn't complete the tasks assigned to him.

The Death Eaters, following his orders, searched the house again.

This time, they moved all the furniture outside and carefully inspected every inch of the house, even checking the two mouse holes, but still found nothing.

The Death Eaters were certain that the black stone ring was not in the house.

Peter was now utterly terrified.

If he doesn't find it, not only will he have no way to explain to the Dark Lord, but he'll also have enough trouble with that crazy woman Bella when he gets back.

She didn't care whether there was a ring in the room or not; she was only concerned that the Dark Lord's mission hadn't been completed.

Peter will be thoroughly beaten down by her.

"Impossible! If the master says it exists, then it must be here!"

Peter personally searched through all the furniture that had been moved out, and then searched every corner of the house by himself, but to no avail.

Malfoy remained remarkably calm at this moment, knowing that if anything went wrong, it would be Peter who suffered, as this was a mission specifically assigned to him by the Dark Lord.

But he didn't just stand by and watch, gloating. When the Dark Lord gets angry, he doesn't care who's who, and if there's even a slight connection, he might get dragged into it.

"The master's words are never wrong. If he said there is that ring in this room, then there must be one here."

First, Malfoy firmly established his political stance that his master was entirely right, and then he carefully analyzed the possibilities of the matter.

"Since the ring was originally in this room, the fact that we haven't found it means that someone took it before us."

Peter looked at him longingly, seeing Malfoy as his only hope.

"You mean that mark you saw on the floor earlier? Whoever left that mark stole the ring!"

Malfoy did not answer Peter's question.

He gazed at the few scattered Muggle huts in the distance and spoke softly.

"We need to find out more about that."

Without Peter and Malfoy having to do it themselves, Death Eaters soon grabbed a Muggle from the house closest to Gaunt's old house.

Malfoy stared at the Muggle who had been subjected to the Imperius Curse and whose eyes had become vacant, his eyes filled with undisguised disdain.

Has anyone else been in this room?

The middle-aged man mechanically shook his head in reply.

"No, no one has ever been here."

"It might not be a person. Have you seen anything else come in?"