Arriving in front of one of the broom cupboards at Hogwarts, the rat began to change, its shape began to grow, its little hands turned into hands and feet, and soon after, its snout disappeared, revealing a face that was far from pretty. In the end, the rat disappeared completely.
In its place was a small man, no more than 1.57, with shaggy blond hair and small, cunning eyes, just like in his Animagus form. He was ugly, with a round face that vaguely resembled the face of a rat.
It was Peter Pettigrew.
Asterion looked at everything from the shadows with a curious gaze, Animagus was an art of Transfiguration that really interested him, although he didn't have time to practice, he didn't find it difficult to transform into an Animagus.
Shaking his head, Asterion focused on the moment and put that thought aside, his eyes looking at the man's figure with a cold stare. The main culprit behind James and Lily Potter's deaths. Rose would love to have a private conversation with the rat he didn't even consider human.
Peter whispered something and the broom cupboard door opened as if by magic, which was literal in this situation.
Asterion and Dumbledore couldn't help but approach with curious looks on their faces; they were both curious what the item was that could destroy a barrier made by Merlin himself, the Man Closest to Becoming a God.
Peter entered the cupboard on his broom and began to search extremely quickly, soon locating a small box in a discreet corner that was difficult to see if you didn't look closely. He grabbed the box with both hands and his eyes didn't hide his greed. Even if he didn't know what it was, his greed was stoked to the extreme.
If it weren't for the Unbreakable Vow, he would probably run off with the ancient artifact without any hesitation. Only a fool would return an item of that caliber.
However, Peter didn't open the box and quickly changed back into his Animagus form, a gray mouse. The Rat balanced the box with his body and the rodent quickly started walking to the next place.
As Peter disappeared into the shadows, Asterion and Dumbledore appeared, both of them really not expecting an item capable of canceling Merlin's barrier to be in a mere broom cupboard. They didn't know if Organization R was stupid or clever to put it in such an obvious and ridiculous place.
"I really want to see his face when he sees us." Asterion commented with a smile as he followed behind the rat.
"I'll bet you ten pounds he'll beg for his life and then try to escape." Dumbledore replied with a cold tone, but slightly amused by the whole cat and mouse situation they were in at the moment.
Asterion looked surprised at Dumbledore, but nodded. "I'll bet you ten pounds he'll try to talk to us and try to sell out the principals, then he'll try to escape."
Dumbledore accepted the bet and they both walked after Peter, the poor rat didn't know that or he'd probably have a heart attack in front of two Special Grade Wizards.
As he followed the rat, Asterion couldn't help but frown. "The rat knows Hogwarts very well, including the secret passages, even the inverted staircases leading down to Merlin's seal beneath the castle."
"It's normal that he knew about the secret passages of Hogwarts. Peter, James, Remus and Sirius were known to have discovered all the secret passages, rooms and hidden rooms in the Castle. Although it's really unnerving that he knows about the Reverse Staircases." Dumbledore replied, his voice colder than ever, there was a hint of anger in his tone.
It was no wonder he was furious, one of Hogwarts' most important secrets had leaked out and he had no idea how it had happened or which Headmaster had betrayed Hogwarts. That alone made his blood boil with fury.
Asterion listened in silence as he followed the rat through the secret passages and hidden rooms.
-
Below Hogwarts, in Merlin's Seal.
The sound of something crunching sounded in the cave as a girl, wearing a black Victorian dress, ate a cookie while the girl's red eyes were fixed on the huge black dome before him.
It was Morgan, she had been guarding the place for a few days and analyzing the sealed existence behind the barrier. Although the young woman definitely didn't want to be there and preferred to be by her master/brother's side.
Another reason was that the Holy Sword purified everything evil, which in this case was Morgan herself. This burning feeling against her skin was incomparably irritating and she didn't like the Holy Sword at all.
Both were totally opposite existences, one representing good and the other evil. One represented the purity of man and humanity's determination against adversity while the other represented the evil of man and humanity's insatiable greed.
Having finished eating the roast chicken-flavored Cookie, Morgana created another Cookie, this time one with a blue flavor. Although she didn't really understand what blue was, she found it strangely tasty and made one for each color of the world.
"The best food in the world..." Biting into one of the cookies, Morgan mumbled with full cheeks and ate even more eagerly. No matter how much she ate, Cookie was humanity's most delicious food.
"My master said that there are cults that believe in demons and evil beings, if such cults and sects exist, the world must accept the worship of Cookies." She murmured, her gaze growing brighter at the idea of creating a cult or sect to worship Cookies. In her eyes, there was nothing more than normal about spreading Cookie worship to mere unworthy humans.
Suddenly, her movements stopped and she turned her head, looking at the small rat that had just entered the cave. With a confused look on her face, Morgan looked at the rat and tilted her head to the side.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the rat's flesh and look directly into its essence - she discovered that it was a human - the process of its transformation was laid out before Morgan without any difficulties.
She had to admit, in terms of creativity, no other intelligent race could match the human race. What other race would go to the trouble of creating a spell capable of transforming into something less intelligent?
If Morgan was surprised, Peter was more than surprised, he almost had a heart attack when he noticed a girl surrounded by cookies looking at him with familiar red eyes.
Seeing the girl looking at him with a confused and surprised look, Peter felt pride bubble up in his chest, he had capital to be proud of, for this was a talent that few possessed, being an Animagus was one of the things he could still feel proud of in his miserable life.
Turning human again, Peter looked at the girl and spoke, showing his crooked, yellowed teeth. "Girl, although I don't know how you got to this place, I'm going to have to kill you. Blame fate for making you want to eat here."
Without waiting for her words, the Animagus waved his hand and an extremely thin thread of wind appeared in front of him, in a mere instant, the thread of wind advanced towards the girl with the intention of decapitating her!
Morgan looked stunned at the attack and didn't move, why would she move in the face of an ant's attack? She didn't even bother to analyze such a weak attack and parry it.
Under Peter's confused and incredulous eyes, the extremely thin and deadly thread of wind capable of cutting through steel plates did nothing but move the girl's clothes a little!
"Impossible!" Peter shouted as he condensed dozens more strands of wind, but the result was the same: the girl was still intact in the face of his blows. Looking into her red eyes, a shiver ran through his body.
Just as he was about to flee, Morgan moved, and with a simple glance from her, Peter's legs magically transformed into something resembling cookies. It might have looked funny to a child, but it was extremely terrifying in the eyes of the Animagus.
Peter tried to crawl away, but when his arms and legs turned into Cookies, the simple act of crawling became an extremely complicated task. Morgan approached and crouched down beside him.
"My master ordered that anyone entering should be immobilized." She spoke, her voice cold and indifferent, the girl's red eyes fixed on the cookies made from human flesh.
Licking her lips, Morgan grabbed Peter's left arm, which had turned into a Cookie, and took a bite.
Peter's eyes widened in complete horror and fear, how would you react to seeing your arm being eaten in front of you? He was completely horrified as he desperately tried to get away from the monster in front of him.
When Asterion and Dumbledore arrived unhurriedly at the Cave, they both took in the scene and remained silent.
Asterion twitched his lips unnaturally at the sight of Morgan devouring Peter's arm... Dumbledore, after being a little surprised, didn't mind and crouched down, picking up a small box that had fallen to the ground.
The box was no more than ten centimeters long, made of dark polished wood with the coat of arms of a house that Dumbledore couldn't identify, it was a three-headed dog. In his memory, there was no noble house around the world with such a coat of arms, but it was definitely Greek because of the three-headed dog.
Chanting an Alohomora Duo using the Wand of Wands, the box opened with a click, drawing Asterion's attention.
Seeing the item resting preciously in the purple stew of the box, Asterion and Dumbledore finally identified the item.
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Author's Thoughts: Some of you have already guessed whose item is in the box from the crest, but no spoilers for your fellow readers.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 218 - Ancient Artifact (1), Chapter 219 - Ancient Artifact (2), Chapter 220 - The Last Moment Before Chaos (1), Chapter 221 - The Last Moment Before Chaos (2, Chapter 222 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (1), Chapter 223 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (2), Chapter 224 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (3).
Next Chapter of the Third Volume: Chapter 225 - A Dark Day (1), Chapter 226 - A Dark Day (2), Chapter 227 - A Talk Between Two Monarchs (1), Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 229 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 230 - The French Battlefront (1), Chapter 231 - The French Battlefront (2), Chapter 232 - The French Battlefront (3), Chapter 233 - The French Battlefront (4), Chapter 334 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (1).