A certain broken Hogwarts

The wind and snow had stopped sometime ago, the thick clouds in the night sky dispersed, and the crescent moon cast a dim silver glow on the boundless white snow.

As the people of Hogwarts Castle gradually drifted into sleep, there were always some night owls yearning for a novel and exciting adventure.

The dim firelight in the corridor outside the "Always Required" house cast long, slanted shadows on the walls, like a bizarre ritual dance. From downstairs, the shrill laughter of Pippi the Ghost echoed, while Mrs. Lorris's hoarse meows trailed off.

Owen waved his hand dismissively, finally managing to send Harry away—who, though unaware of the situation, was still eager to help. As Harry left, he glared at him with those resentful emerald eyes, as if accusing a heartless scoundrel of starting something and then abandoning it.

After watching Harry's figure disappear at the end of the corridor, Owen slapped his forehead in exasperation and gently flicked open the pocket watch in his hand. The hands on the dial were almost pointing to 11:30, about an hour and a half since Kurt's letter arrived.

"Tsk, still in time." He casually put away his pocket watch, took out the thin gold chain of the Time Converter from his pocket, and then beckoned Nyx to stand on his shoulder.

"May I invite you to join me on a fun adventure, Nyx?" Owen smiled and winked his left eye, wrapping the thin gold chain around Nyx's neck.

Nyx impatiently clicked its glossy black beak open and closed, proudly raising its beautiful head high. It regained its spirits, and its bright red eyes quietly filled with restless anticipation and malice. Its magnificent feathers reflected a dazzling light in the flickering firelight.

"Then please guide me." Owen chuckled softly and turned the hourglass of the time converter five times.

After a rapid backward rush, they found themselves back five hours earlier. The sky outside was already dark, and the heavy snowfall hadn't stopped.

Irving walked past the House of Requirement three times before entering his own secret room. After casually glancing at the Wormtail curled up in its small cage, he took some Polyjuice Potion from the cupboard, a hooded black robe, and a few other gadgets that he might need.

Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment, then walked to the other experimental table and picked out a large, lively rat from among a group of small animals used as test subjects. He figured he might need the bait later, and using a rat, which was readily available, would be the least likely to arouse suspicion.

After frowning slightly and reciting a cleansing spell to the rat, Owen tucked the rat into his body using the same method he used to hide rabbits. Then, he put on his robe, grabbed Nyx's tail, and disappeared into the black flames.

He flew at high speed in the warm flames, and when he finally set foot on solid ground again, he was standing in the snow, where the biting wind stung his face like blades.

Irving raised his hand and rubbed his face, squinting as he looked down the street at a bar called "The Hound."

At this point, Kurt hasn't arrived yet, but he'll be here soon.

"Let's sneak in and scout it out before Kurt arrives." Owen exhaled a soft puff of white breath and pulled his hood over his head.

Although Kurt's investigation was excellent, Owen wouldn't completely trust everything he reported. If the member of the Deathbringer who was spying on the bookstore was actually setting a trap for him, or if they noticed Kurt's infiltration of the bar but remained inactive, then Owen would be facing a terrible predicament.

However, he had to go into the basement of the bar to take a look, because this was the best chance to find the deeply hidden leader of the Death Chaser Society.

If the Deathbringers find the new key tonight, to avoid a repeat of the previous incident where Owen hijacked it, they will likely choose to deliver the key directly to the leader. If Owen can witness this, he is confident he can use his newly acquired Apparition Tracking technique to pinpoint the Deathbringers' leader's location.

To resolve the problem of the Extinction Society as quickly as possible, Irving was willing to take a risk; it was obviously much safer to infiltrate before Kurt. It must be said that the Time-Turner was extremely useful in this regard.

After whispering a few instructions to Nyx, Owen told him to find a place to hide, and then slipped away alone into the alley next to the bar.

This place is very remote, but the ground is covered with messy footprints. If a careful Muggle happens to pass by, he would be very surprised, because the footprints of all sizes on the snow, whether they are going outward or inward, all stop abruptly at a certain point, appearing and disappearing out of thin air.

Irving chose a sheltered corner, cast a Disillusionment spell on himself, and waited silently, occasionally shaking the snowflakes off his head and shoulders.

Only a few minutes had passed when a crisp popping sound rang out from the side. Several figures appeared out of thin air in the alley, then hurriedly walked towards the street outside, their movements silent and orderly.

Owen simply stood there quietly, watching their figures disappear around the corner. After waiting a while, he finally saw two people walk in from outside the alley, raising their wands to Apparate in front of him.

Owen swung his wand sharply, casting a silent stun spell that struck the nearest small wizard. The witch beside him reacted swiftly, turning around, but before she could aim her wand at Owen, she was struck by another beam of red light and collapsed to the ground without a sound.

Owen glanced down at the two of them before quickly approaching the short male wizard and plucking a few curled brown hairs from his head.

Next, he awakened the short male wizard, first controlling him with the Imperius Curse, and then casting the Legilimency Incantation.

"Hmm, seems like a cheerful and talkative person..." Owen muttered to himself. Although the Deathbringers had ways to keep their members' secrets about the organization, other information was not protected.

"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"

Owen put away his wand and slowly returned to his original position.

The two people who had been lying on the ground stood up in a daze, their faces showing indifference to everything. They waved their wands and disappeared into thin air with a "snap".

Owen tossed the wizard's hair into the Polyjuice Potion bottle, pinched his nose, took a sip, and gasped for breath, looking somewhat uncomfortable. His body and appearance wriggled and transformed into the image of a slightly chubby, short, middle-aged wizard.

After stuffing the remaining Compound Potion into his pocket, he removed the Disillusionment Charm, waved his wand to clean up the suspicious marks on the snow, and then strode out of the alley and into the Hound of the Hounds.

The bar was wonderfully warm, filled with the rich aroma of alcohol. Some strangely dressed Muggles were laughing and talking loudly, while other customers, drinking silently, would occasionally exchange knowing glances with the staff.

Irving pulled his hood down and went straight to the bar, subtly raising his left hand to make a gesture to the clerk. This was thanks to Kurt's detailed account of his experiences and discoveries in the letter, which saved him a lot of trouble.

The bartender glanced at him, gave a barely perceptible nod, and went back to fiddling with his glasses. Owen walked briskly into the kitchen, weaving through a long row of wine racks.

A middle-aged male sorcerer in a green robe sat by the door at the far end of the wine rack. He turned his head to look at him with a gloomy expression, his eyes sharp and impatient.

"Take off your hood," he said coldly, frowning, holding a wand in his right hand and fiddling with an exquisite round instrument in his left.

Irving blinked. This was different from what Kurt had said. According to Kurt's letter, the person in front of him should have been a sloppy fellow...

He lifted his hood, revealing his face to the man in front of him, and glanced at the round instrument in the other man's left hand with a seemingly unintentional look, raising his eyebrows almost imperceptibly.

He stared intently into the man's eyes, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, and teased with a smile, "You're still as cautious as ever."

The middle-aged wizard glanced at Owen, his brows furrowing even more deeply, his expression becoming serious and stern: "Meyer? Didn't you just leave?"

"Ah, I left something down there..." Owen put on a somewhat embarrassed but also self-righteous look, his eyes darting around for a moment before he continued to stare into the other person's eyes.

Through his recent rapid advancements in mind control, he could almost discern the real-time thoughts in the other person's mind and see the man's inner suspicion and vigilance.

The bartenders were standing at the kitchen door, peering inside. Irving had no doubt that if he gave himself away, he would be surrounded and attacked without mercy.

"What did you miss?" the wizard asked coldly, glancing quickly at the instrument in his left hand, his expression relaxing slightly.

"Hey, why be so rigid?" Owen replied, seemingly ignoring the question, but he gleaned a lot of information from the fleeting thoughts in the other person's eyes.

"It's my duty," the wizard said sternly, looking at him with disapproval. It was clear the two were quite familiar with each other.

"Doesn't having this prove I'm okay?"

Owen casually put his arm around the man's shoulder, and taking advantage of the man's momentary lapse in attention, he lightly snatched the round device from the man's hand. With a flick of his right hand, a slender, pointed cone appeared out of thin air in his palm. Then, he brought his hands together, and the sharp, slender cone pierced into the round device with a "snap."

Perhaps it was because Owen's expression was too relaxed and easy, his movements of taking the instrument from his hand too natural and smooth, and his movements of destroying the instrument with the spike too fluid and effortless, that the middle-aged wizard was stunned for a moment and failed to react immediately, watching helplessly as Owen destroyed the delicate circular instrument in a few moves.

Using his body as a shield, the bar staff peeking out from outside the door couldn't see anything clearly either.

The middle-aged wizard's eyes turned cold, and just as he was about to raise his wand, Owen had already pointed the wand hidden under his robe at him and silently cast a Confusion Charm.

The wizard's eyes instantly became confused.

"Nothing happened just now," Owen whispered in his ear in a light, ethereal voice, almost like a murmur.

"Yes," the wizard said blankly.

Irving straightened up, placed the broken circular instrument back into the other person's hand, and continued in a persuasive tone, "Everyone who came in and out of here tonight has been fine, right?"

"Yes." The wizard nodded and stuffed the instrument in his hand into his pocket.

Owen smirked slightly, shifted his position to the side so as not to block the view of the shop assistants behind him, and muttered a complaint, "Sigh, why did I leave my keys on the ground?"

"Go in," the man said hoarsely. His eyes regained their clarity, but his expression was more weary.

Owen nodded with a smile and strolled inside. The middle-aged wizard leaned back wearily and impatiently in his chair, and the shop assistants who had been observing the situation also withdrew their heads.

Irving walked down the descending stairs, the air damp, cold, and heavy with a faint smell of burning. He pursed his lips slightly, thinking to himself, "Looks like Kurt's account can't be taken entirely at face value."

"A hostile detector, one of the research achievements of the Deathbringer, can be used to detect hostile creatures and issue an alarm." This was the information Owen had obtained from the sorcerer earlier regarding the circular device. Although his Legilimency was not yet very precise, he could still decipher the general meaning.

"But a sufficiently proficient Occlumency is its nemesis." Owen smirked. He happened to be very skilled at Occlumency and was used to maintaining an Occlumency state most of the time.

"Tsk, if I hadn't sneaked in beforehand to check things out, Kurt definitely wouldn't have gotten past this hurdle." He clicked his tongue, a look of interest on his face. "But it was precisely because of what I did that Kurt's infiltration operation soon after became so easy and smooth..."

"People can't change the past with a time-tamper; they're just filling in the gaps in history." Irving's smile deepened. "That's really interesting."

"Then the next level might not be so easy either..." he thought with some anticipation.

Irving walked unhurriedly through the long underground passage and soon saw the gatekeepers Kurt had described in his letter. Two tall men stood at the end of the passage, heads held high, staring intently at the approaching man with stern faces.

Irving glanced at them expressionlessly, but his attention was focused on the door behind them, where a tetrahedral instrument with an eye pattern was embedded.

He happened to know about this gadget—an invisibility detector, specifically designed to detect invisible objects.

In this way, the two gatekeepers are responsible for verifying the visitor's identity, using tokens and codes to prevent intruders from impersonating their own people, while the Death Exterminator's secrecy measures ensure that each person's unique code will not be revealed to outsiders...

"That's incredibly tight-knit," Owen couldn't help but admire inwardly. This organization has truly mastered secrecy to the extreme; no wonder so few people know the name of the Deathbringer.

"So, if we could subdue these two guys in an instant..." He raised his hand to rub his temples, and his eye twitched slightly.

"No, if it were me, since the protective measures have already been implemented to this extent, I wouldn't have left such an obvious loophole." Owen continued to walk slowly toward the gatekeeper, his mind racing.

"If it were me... I would set up another magic detector around here!" Owen's expression was firm.

Magic detectors are tools used to detect magical energy and are not uncommon. An alarm is triggered when someone uses magic or potions near a magic detector, causing a certain level of magical fluctuation.

"If there's a magic detector nearby, it'll ensure the gatekeeper isn't silently knocked down or controlled. That would make the security measure truly comprehensive." Owen discreetly glanced around, unsurprisingly finding no trace of a magic detector. "I'll place it inside the door to prevent it from being damaged by unwelcome visitors..."

He paused, calmly stopping in front of the two gatekeepers. He reached into his pocket as if searching for a token, and secretly tugged at a thin rope inside his robe.

The large rat he had prepared as bait slipped from under his robe and fell to the ground, squeaking and scurrying around at the three men's feet.

Irving pretended to be startled, jumped up suddenly, and while the other two looked down at the rat, he pulled out two black flashlight-like objects and stabbed them hard into the two men, one in each hand.

The two goalkeepers convulsed violently, then fell straight to the ground without a sound, losing all consciousness.

"Luckily, I was prepared." Owen smiled slyly and quickly put the stun gun back into his pocket.

"So, wizards' arrogance always makes them unconsciously overlook the power possessed by Muggles, and the same goes for wizards' creations." He had a mischievous smug look on his face. In order to deal with situations where magic cannot be used, he had prepared more than just electric shock devices.

Although wizards are much more resistant to electric shocks than Muggles, they can still be instantly stunned if the voltage is high enough. Owen once specifically tested the wizards' tolerance and modified his stun baton accordingly.

He swiftly pulled out the sharp cone he had used before, inserted it into the invisible detector on the door from the side, and stirred it around haphazardly. With a "click," he destroyed the internal structure, but from the outside, it appeared completely intact.

Next, he opened the door and went into the square room inside. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he quickly searched the area and found two polyhedral-shaped magic detectors and a strange instrument of unknown purpose in several hidden corners.

After swiftly destroying them one by one, Owen quickly returned to the passage behind the door, waved his wand to awaken the two gatekeepers, kindly healed their injuries, and then erased their memories of what had just happened.

After completing all this in a very short time, he breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the square room, and closed the door behind him.

After expertly reciting the three essential steps for a nighttime stroll, Owen began wandering around the underground hideout. (End of Chapter)