Chapter 187: Madness And The Final Trump Card
Donald’s last remark was the sensible choice.
Preserving more living forces was indeed the primary task for the fractured Graves family.
Otherwise, even if they didn’t die here today, they would die at the hands of other families someday… In a federation governed by clan politics, the twelve pure-blood families might stand together, but they were far from warm and affectionate.
If the Graves family lost their military strength, then those “brother” families would likely be the first to strike…
The team was quickly assigned.
Three Auror captains led their respective teams to rescue survivors according to Donald’s plan, while Donald himself, with six Aurors, headed to his assigned area.
It was a residential area shrouded in darkness.
Deeply dark.
Donald knew that this was not an illusion caused by the darkness, but an effect created by magic.
The Darkness Curse.
A type of barrier spell similar to that used in Peace Town, it could, through the collaboration of multiple wizards, envelop objects within a certain range in a magic-created “shadow.” Those who entered the barrier would have their senses obscured to a certain extent by the shadow, primarily affecting vision and weakening hearing.
This spell, like the triangle tactic, was a specialty of the Graves family.
The simplified version of this barrier spell was the source of the magic most Graves members used to blend into the shadows.
As the group walked to the roadside and moved out of the light, the surrounding illumination was gradually consumed by darkness. A wondrous sight appeared before the seven people:
A “shadow” extending left and right, like a curtain drifting up from below, “emerged” from the soil and “fell” into the air.
A wizard following behind Donald stepped forward and cautiously touched the shadow with his wand. He turned back and shook his head at Donald:
“The barrier they set is very strong. Many people were likely involved, and the identification spell has been modified. It will take some time to break.”
“…Jack…”
Donald’s eyes dimmed. Not long ago, he had instructed Jack Graves to drive away the Muggles and then conceal this area to prevent any accidental magical leakage if a conflict with the WAC occurred.
The result…
Sighing inwardly with mixed emotions, Donald shook his head, dispelling the turmoil in his heart, and said, “We don’t have time to waste. Let’s go in directly. Everyone, maintain your Lumos spells. While they won’t do much against the barrier, they can at least dispel some of the darkness.”
“But if we do that, we’ll become targets. Lumos spells are very conspicuous within the barrier.”
“There’s no other way, we can only be more vigilant,” Donald looked at them. “I hope everyone can work together… If it were you trapped inside now, would you want to see everyone working hard to rescue you, or hesitating and looking back?”
No one would want to see themselves abandoned.
The Aurors nodded and said no more.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Donald let out a light breath and stepped into the darkness.
Instantly, the darkness, like dried ice and snow, was pulled into wisps of black smoke as Donald approached, gradually dissipating and retreating.
But Donald showed no signs of joy.
Lumos was not a counter-spell to the Darkness Curse. Decades ago, for tactical reasons, the Graves family developed the Darkness Curse. To prevent the outside world from developing a corresponding counter-spell, its casting, spells, and rituals differed significantly from the modern spell system, drawing heavily on ancient magical rituals.
Currently, in the wizarding world, the only thing that could barely counter the Darkness Curse was “All Spells End,” which required the collaboration of many people.
As expected, although the surrounding darkness was dispelled by Lumos, as they continued to advance, the darkness, which resembled smoke and yet was like an ocean, pressed back in.
The originally formless light of Lumos, oppressed by the darkness, gradually took on a halo-like shape, “tenaciously” clinging to within about one foot of their bodies.
This “pressure” was tangible, and the seven individuals’ arms gradually tensed. Donald, in particular, walking at the front, found his wand trembling slightly.
The surrounding darkness churned and squeezed.
It was as if they were real seawater, carrying immense resistance, attempting to drown and crush this light. His magical power and emotions were also being depleted.
Simultaneously, the Darkness Curse was gradually stripping away their senses, primarily sight and hearing.
“My vision is starting to blur!”
After walking for a while, Donald heard a faint voice from behind him. It was a witch named Mavey. Donald, also experiencing blurred vision, couldn’t see her expression clearly but could barely discern her lip movements as she spoke forcefully, “And my hearing, I can barely hear anything now.”
Judging by her lip movements, Mavey must have been shouting, but what Donald actually heard was as faint as a whisper.
This was the Darkness Curse’s deprivation of senses!
“Hang in there a little longer,” Donald responded loudly, his voice also weakened. “Don’t let your guard down. Those guys we drove off earlier are very likely hiding nearby.”
As soon as he finished speaking.
Donald noticed that the smoke-like darkness ahead suddenly churned more violently. In the next instant, a streak of fiery red flew out from the heavy shadows.
Donald reacted with lightning speed, waving his wand.
The light trail of the Full Body-Bind Curse flashed and vanished. The incoming flames were immediately repelled.
This “blazing fire” seemed to act as a signal. The next second, more spells rained down. Donald spread his arms, and a hemispherical Full Body-Bind Curse instantly enveloped him and the other six Aurors. Three of them also simultaneously abandoned maintaining their Lumos spells, shouting incantations to assist Donald.
Noises and vibrations were chaotic.
Donald grunted, and visible cracks appeared on the Full Body-Bind Curse. But he didn’t continue to blindly defend; instead, while someone else was helping him with defense, he quickly cast a spell at his feet, conjuring a mass of soil. With a sweep of his wand, his masterful Transfiguration transformed the soil into a barrage of weapons shot into the darkness.
Although he didn’t know where the enemy was, this action seemed blind.
But Donald was not flustered in the slightest. From the first surge of his magical power at age eight, he had been studying and using his family’s magic. For thirty years, he had thoroughly understood its advantages and disadvantages.
The Darkness Curse was indeed powerful, but no magic in this world was absolutely invincible. Even the Killing Curse could be deceived by a life form conjured by an advanced Transfiguration Spell, let alone a barrier with no killing power?
Similarly, any large-scale area-covering spell, the stronger its effect, the more massive magical power and emotion it requires as “energy.”
“There must be a node nearby.”
Donald thought.
The so-called node was, in essence, the wizard maintaining the Darkness Curse.
The weapons he shot out were not intended to attack the assailants, but to strike the node!
As they delved deeper into the barrier, the world became increasingly silent.
A halo of light suddenly appeared.
He flicked away a Disarming Charm.
Donald took a step back, and two Aurors took his place. They held their wands high, supporting the Full Body-Bind Curse and blocking spells that came from all directions.
Donald then muttered a couple of incantations under his breath.
With a pull of his wand, the ground cracked open. Cement, soil, grass blades… everything usable transformed under his magic.
They became lions, elephants, tigers, and even fire dragons, unicorns, chameleon-like beasts, and so on, roaring silently and lunging towards the direction of the muffled sounds under Donald’s command.
Before long, even with the weakening effect of the Darkness Curse, the sounds from that direction became increasingly noisy.
【 Transfer over there 】
Donald made a gesture. It was already difficult for them to communicate verbally.
Seeing the gesture, the Aurors nodded, began to cooperate, and shifted their direction, accelerating their pace.
Perhaps sensing their objective, the attacks from the surroundings intensified.
The shield of the Full Body-Bind Curse was on the verge of collapse.
Some were also trying to stop Donald’s magic!
But no longer fighting alone, no longer solely defending, Donald, now fully engaged in combat, was not someone they could stop.
In a federation and a Magical Congress governed by clan politics, a Minister might need to consider background, experience, and political value, with magical strength ranking lower, but a Deputy Minister was usually the strongest wizard of their generation from that family!
Especially in the Department of Magical Security controlled by the Graves family.
As the Federation’s largest enforcement agency, combat capability was the sole criterion for selecting a Deputy Minister.
Donald, specializing in Transfiguration, continuously summoned nearby miscellaneous items and then, through precise Transfiguration, transformed them into fierce beasts and weapons.
Life animation, enchantments with special effects like lightning, fire, and freezing, swarms of birds…
Various combinations of spells centered around Transfiguration were brought to life under his wand. The transformed animals, appearing like real creatures, either ran and attacked, lurked, or flew. Some were crackling with lightning, others spewed fire.
They came in an endless stream, approaching the target direction through various unforeseen methods.
The ground trembled.
As they got closer, while the six Aurors found their defense increasingly difficult, they finally heard faint but extremely panicked sounds not far away—
“Protect the node!”
“Stop those damn transfigured creatures—Ah!”
“Damn it, Seamus is dead.”
Donald’s eyes widened. His vision had been almost completely stripped away by the Darkness Curse.
Through his blurry vision, as if looking through layers of frosted glass, he could only vaguely make out the frequent flashing lights over there.
Even their voices were muffled, as if his ears were filled with water.
But this was enough. It was enough for him to pinpoint the exact location of the node!
Donald finally stopped his Transfiguration magic. The endless army of transformed creatures abruptly ceased.
But the traitors in the surrounding darkness did not relax in the slightest.
Because they saw Donald slowly raise his hand, his smooth, highly elastic willow wand slowly extending from behind the shield the Aurors were maintaining.
Obscure incantations were uttered from his mouth:
“Evanesco!”
There were no light effects, no sound, no warning.
A traitor who had just cast an evil curse and happened to be facing the tip of Donald’s wand suddenly widened his eyes in terror. He opened and closed his mouth twice, seemingly wanting to say something, but only a wisp of dust mixed with his breath came out!
He disintegrated!
In the traitors’ fearful gaze, the wizard, like a sandcastle swept by a strong wind, turned into dust at a visible rate, disintegrating and vanishing.
And that was not the end.
After the wizard disappeared, the silent power of the spell continued to extend. The flowerbeds, lawns, ground behind, and the node wizards trapped by Donald’s transfigured creatures and unable to escape, all collapsed under the spell’s power.
Within a fan-shaped area, everything disappeared in that instant.
A regular, massive pit appeared on the ground!
As the wizards maintaining the barrier node vanished, the dense darkness surrounding them receded in an instant. The Lumos spells maintained by the Aurors spread out, illuminating the night.
It also illuminated the traitors who, moments before, had been using the Darkness Curse with impunity, hiding in the surrounding Muggle houses!
But no one paid attention to this; they were merely staring in shock at the sudden pit, silent.
After a long while, a traitor finally whispered in a trembling voice, “Vanishing Spell…”
“Whoosh—”
Donald let out a long breath, his face somewhat pale. Using such a wide-range Vanishing Spell from a distance was a significant burden for him.
He felt waves of dizziness and pain, signs of excessive magical exhaustion, a drastic drop in stamina, and nearing emotional collapse.
This was a very dangerous act, indicating a significant decrease in his magical strength for a period.
However, in Donald’s opinion, it was worth it.
As the darkness dissipated and his vision recovered, Donald saw a faintly shimmering red signal floating above the small courtyard of a villa not far ahead.
It was a magical marker left by the survivors according to his instructions; as long as it existed, it meant the wizard who cast it was still alive.
Glancing at the signal again, Donald let out a weak gasp, then commanded, “You all handle the remaining traitors in the vicinity. Mavey, you’re with me. Let’s go rescue the people at the marker.”
The Aurors responded loudly and quickly divided into groups.
Before long, the battle resumed. This time, however, the remaining traitors in the area were no longer concealed by darkness and were quickly suppressed by the elite Aurors.
Casually deflecting a few spells and ignoring the battle on that side, Donald and Mavey Graves, a witch likely in her early thirties, walked to the outer wall of the villa with the magical marker.
“Deputy Minister, let me do it.”
Seeing Donald’s pale face as he raised his wand, Mavey quickly stopped him. “You rest for now. There are still many people who need you.”
After a moment’s thought, Donald didn’t insist further and stepped back a few paces.
He watched Mavey blast open the courtyard wall and cautiously enter, shielding herself with a Full Body-Bind Curse amidst the billowing dust.
Then… there was silence!
Donald frowned, instinctively gripping his wand, and was about to ask Mavey about it when his eyes suddenly lit up. An intense, brilliant fire suddenly expanded within the courtyard wall!
A long time ago, perhaps twenty years ago, shortly after his graduation, Donald had gone on his graduation trip to Nevada, following the rules set by the founders of Ilvermorny.
It was a place where the Muggle army conducted nuclear tests.
He had witnessed a nuclear explosion there and had nearly burned his eyes as a result. Because of this, he would never forget the scene he saw at that time—
The white flash pierced his eyes like a sharp sword, rendering the sky and earth a blinding white. A few breaths later, as the brief flash disappeared, what appeared in his vision was no longer the earth and sky, but a constantly churning, rolling, expanding golden fireball that seemed to devour everything!
Just like now!
Boom—
Frequencies imperceptible to the human body struck his eardrums. Donald was instantly deafened, and the entire world fell into silence.
Trees and lawns instantly ignited.
He instinctively summoned a Full Body-Bind Curse and watched it ripple and crack…
He watched the fireball roll and expand, devouring and overwhelming him!
A nuclear bomb!
Why… why was there a nuclear bomb here?
His mind was blank. The intense impact made him forget how to react; he just stared blankly as the fireball destroyed the villa and advanced towards him.
Then, it stopped not far in front of him!
“…How…” Such a bizarre sight finally jolted Donald back to his senses. He stared, dumbfounded, at the stopped fireball.
Yes, it had completely frozen, like a Muggle television, with a button pressed to freeze the image.
The fiery cloud stopped expanding, the flames froze in their last churning frame, and even the light seemed to have stopped. He saw several beams of light extending near him, forming a grid in the air.
Only outside the fireball, everything else was still operating normally. Air currents whistled past his feet, flowing towards the center of the explosion.
But this was undoubtedly the most abnormal situation.
In this world, only magic, or extremely powerful spells, powerful wizards, or alchemical marvels could achieve such a feat!
“Donald!”
“Mr. Deputy Minister, are you alright?”
The sudden turn of events caused several Aurors who had been clearing out traitors to rush back. They stared in shock at the frozen fireball and hastily surrounded Donald for protection.
“I’m fine.”
Shaking his head to signal to the Aurors that he was unharmed, Donald stared at the fireball, his expression dazed. “But Mavey she…”
As his voice, strained and somewhat dazed, still struggling to recover from the shock, a voice came through:
“I’ve always thought you were the most hypocritical among us.”
“Who is it!”
The Aurors instinctively cast spells in the direction of the voice. It was a shadow, and a few faint lights flickered within the shadow, deflecting the spells.
A person in a woolen overcoat with a suit lining walked out.
In the dark night, only his silhouette could be vaguely seen, but it was enough for those who knew him to recognize him.
“Jack Graves, you traitor!” an Auror roared, wanting to charge forward, but the other Aurors held him back tightly.
The Aurors clustered around Donald, looking at Jack Graves and then at the frozen fireball, their expressions tense and apprehensive!
He ignored the roaring Auror; precisely, besides Donald, Jack Graves’s eyes could not contain anyone else.
He slowly walked out of the shadow, tilting his head slightly. The clear moonlight from the sky, unhindered by darkness, illuminated his face. It was a typical Graves family face, regular and stern, looking more like a scholar than a wizard.
Seeing him, Donald’s eyes were bloodshot. “You still dare to show yourself?”
“Hm? Why wouldn’t I dare?”
“You betrayed the family, you… you just killed Mavey, she’s your cousin!”
“So what? Are you going to accuse me of being inhumane? Or stand on moral high ground and criticize me for being cold-blooded and merciless? Whatever you want, after all, I’m not you, Donald, our loving elder brother.”
Jack Graves smiled nonchalantly. “Always presenting yourself as someone who cares for other kinsmen. Even surrounded by us traitors, your first response wasn’t to retreat, but to passionately declare you’d rescue everyone. Just now, with the nuclear explosion, you immediately expressed pity for poor Mavey… truly respectable, and truly sickening!”
He tilted his head, a hint of curiosity on his face. “Donald, aren’t you tired? Always putting on this act of a benevolent elder, wearing a mask of hypocrisy. Others may not know, but I clearly remember you weren’t like this when you were young.”
Donald looked at Jack in disbelief.
He had never known he was perceived this way by the other party, but at this moment, he didn’t care.
He would never let his thoughts fall into Jack’s twisted logic and prejudice.
Donald’s gaze shifted slightly, passing over the frozen fireball. He took a deep breath. “What exactly do you want?”
As he spoke, he waved his hand. Noticing his gesture, the Aurors immediately spread out, surrounding Jack Graves.
However, Jack was unconcerned. He continued to look only at Donald, smiling and retorting, “What do you mean? This frozen fireball? Or my betrayal?”
“Both!”
Donald’s wand illuminated with magical light.
Glancing at the light, Jack’s expression was calm. “Let’s talk about the betrayal first. Evelyn should have made our intentions clear when she spoke with you earlier. Our betrayal has no other reason. I, and others, hate the exploitation and oppression by the main family. We don’t want to be beasts of burden for those lords anymore. I think this reason is sufficient, and you should be able to understand.”
As he spoke, the traitors also gathered around Jack.
The two groups, centered around their respective leaders, stood in the dark night, under the silver disc of the moon, beside a frozen, giant golden fireball, in a bizarre scene, confronting each other eerily.
As Jack said, his reason was indeed sufficient.
Faced with his declaration of not wanting to be oppressed any longer, Donald could not even utter a word of rebuttal, only remaining silent.
This made Jack Graves somewhat bored. “I thought you’d say some grand principles, try to persuade me to abandon my betrayal and return to the family. It seems that despite your hypocrisy, your mind is still intact.”
Saying this, Jack became more animated. “I think Evelyn’s suggestion earlier was good. You could consider joining us. You’re not from the main family, and you’re also among those exploited and oppressed. Why let those incompetent parasites manipulate you?”
“Like Jacob. As an Auror Captain, he was beaten by Michael just for delivering some bad news. Dear Donald, in what other country could such an absurd thing happen? Do you know about Vaughn Weasley’s situation? He once threw the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, out of the Ministry. Can you imagine what would happen to Vaughn Weasley if something like that happened in the Federation?”
No imagination was needed.
In the United States of America, no one dared to challenge the twelve pure-blood families. Those who dared were long dead!
Facing Donald’s silence, Jack extended his hand, appearing sincere. “Donald, dear cousin, why not try joining us? The current Federation is rotten to the core. The twelve pure-bloods, the decadent clan system… a group of filthy insects ruling over noble people. Instead of being their beasts of burden, why not join us and work together on a great cause, a cause to sweep away the old ills and return the Federation to purity?”
Jack felt he had been quite magnanimous.
After saying this, he himself felt moved to tears.
But Donald’s response disappointed him – the other man didn’t even glance at the hand he extended, a symbol of peace.
Donald just stared fixedly at Jack, his bloodshot pupils reflecting Jack’s image and, beside it, the frozen golden cloud.
As Jack’s expression shifted from hopeful to impatient, then to ferocious, Donald shook his head slightly:
“Yes, Jack, I have no words to refute your reasons for betrayal. I think many Aurors might even sympathize with you now…”
Hearing this, Jack’s expression relaxed slightly.
The Aurors surrounding Donald, however, became somewhat uneasy.
However, the next moment, Donald changed his tone: “…But the moment you betrayed us and pointed your wand at your own kin, you died in my heart.”
“Geoffrey, Jacqueline, Mavey… they were not the ones oppressing and exploiting you. They are your brothers and sisters. But how did you treat them?”
Donald’s eyes grew redder. “You killed them… From this, it can be seen that your so-called reasons don’t represent your true intentions. You are merely using resistance against oppression as a guise to package your greed, shamelessness, brutality, and selfishness, to aggrandize yourself. There is not one ounce of sanctity in your betrayal; behind your grand pronouncements lies your maggot-like, foul true nature—including all of you!”
He looked at the traitors gathered around Jack Graves, his tone unforgiving!
At this point, it was the traitors’ turn to feel uneasy.
Jack’s expression gradually darkened. After a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled again. He gently applauded. “As expected of you, Donald. It’s truly a loss for those old fools that you didn’t get the position of Minister for Magical Security. If you had represented the Graves family, perhaps… none of this would have come to this point.”
Saying this, he shook his head, as if deeming his hypothetical scenario impossible and seeing no need to elaborate further.
“Never mind, since we can’t agree, let’s leave it at that…” Jack paused, then turned to look at the frozen fireball, his smile brightening again.
“I remember you traveled in Muggle society; you should recognize this as a nuclear bomb, right?”
Donald’s face darkened. “That’s right. So I want to know, what exactly are you plotting? That is the Muggles’ most powerful weapon, and here, not only are there your brothers and sisters, but also millions of Muggles, and yourself and these followers. You—”
“Relax.”
Jack waved his hand dismissively. “Its yield is only a few hundred tons. According to the parameters the Muggles gave me, the effective kill radius is only about 100 meters. It’s nothing significant. Besides…”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote-control-like object. He shook it and smiled, “Besides, I have this, a Time Stopper. A powerful alchemical marvel that can temporarily freeze time in an area. So, for now, you don’t need to worry about it harming us… Oh, poor Mavey is an exception. She shouldn’t have been so reckless, barging into an unfamiliar place.”
Donald took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore Jack’s last malicious remark.
He stared intently at the “remote control” in Jack’s hand, involuntarily twitching his wand.
Noticing his movement, Jack immediately pressed a button on the remote control with one finger and shook his other finger, saying, “Don’t move carelessly. If you startle me and I press the button, the consequences of the time pause being lifted are probably not something you can bear.”
“…”
Donald took several deep breaths before he could barely control his inner frenzy. “What exactly do you want?”
Jack chuckled. “What I want to do is actually very simple… Regarding Vaughn Weasley, have you paid attention to his other family members?”
“Hm?”
Donald looked puzzled.
“I suppose you haven’t paid attention, otherwise, you should have guessed,” Jack said, shrugging as he saw Donald’s confused look. This action sent a jolt of fear through Donald, worried he might accidentally press the button…
But Jack seemed unaware of how dangerous his actions were. He continued, “Vaughn Weasley has a pair of twin brothers, Fred Weasley and George Weasley. The reason I mention them is that about two months ago, these twins, who were still attending Hogwarts, published a thesis together with their younger brother.”
“In their thesis, they proposed a concept called ‘Magic Field.’ It is said that this concept originated from Vaughn Weasley. The thesis discusses the interference relationship between Magic Field and electromagnetic fields. Of course, the key point is not here…”
As he spoke, Jack’s smile turned sinister. “The key point is at the end of the thesis. They proposed an interesting idea—if Magic Field can interfere with electromagnetic fields, then conversely, can sufficiently strong electromagnetic fields also interfere with Magic Field?”
The nuclear explosion Donald witnessed in Nevada during his graduation trip twenty years ago had influenced his entire life.
It had even directly impacted his subsequent travel plans.
After that nuclear explosion, he abandoned further travel in the wizarding world and instead stayed in various Muggle cities within the Federation, even using magic to forge a Muggle identity and enroll in a Muggle university.
He primarily studied physics.
Therefore, he possessed knowledge of Muggle physics. While perhaps not deeply profound, he was very clear about the characteristics of a nuclear bomb’s explosion, an event that had left a lasting impression on him.
It was precisely because of this that when he heard Jack speak those last words with a sinister smile, Donald’s face suddenly turned pale—
A nuclear bomb, at the moment of detonation, could generate the world’s most “convenient” and strongest electromagnetic pulse!
And at this moment, its detonation location was within the Dreamcatcher’s Magic Field!
