vncnus Chapter 87 The Dead Are More Useful Than the Living
Chapter 87 The Dead Are More Useful Than the Living
Inside the Coffin Shop in Knockturn Alley, the gaunt owner, examining the Invisibility Cloak, almost buried his head in the shimmering silver fabric. Although Mo Ran had sold him most of the items in Borginborough's shop at extremely low prices, the opportunity to even glimpse the Deathly Hallows was something most wizards could never obtain in their entire lives.
"It's so exquisite. The weaving technique is as delicate as skin. Is this something a wizard could do? Could the rumors be true? Could this invisibility cloak really have been taken from the robes of the Grim Reaper?"
"How could that be?"
Mo Ran replied:
"The Deathly Hallows are indeed the pinnacle of wizards' use of magic and craftsmanship, but their effects are far less magical than rumored. Take the Invisibility Cloak, for example. With Dumbledore's skill as headmaster of Hogwarts, he could see if anyone was wearing it around. What's worse, given his mastery of Transfiguration magic, the old man could even achieve an invisibility effect similar to the Invisibility Cloak with the Illusion Charm."
(Dumbledore, who was investigating the whereabouts of the Gaunt family ring somewhere, sneezed.)
The coffin shop owner scratched his beard and asked incredulously:
"Is he really as amazing as you say?"
Mo Ran nodded and said:
"Anyone who has seen him fight would not doubt his strength... Never mind, this is not something you should worry about. Now that you've seen the invisibility cloak, shouldn't we get down to business?"
Swish!
The black mist, condensed into sharp claws and hooks, snatched the invisibility cloak back from the coffin shop owner's hands with lightning speed. This sophisticated and terrifying black magic technique was precisely why Mo Ran dared to let the other party hold the invisibility cloak and examine it.
"Haha, yes, yes, look at my brain, it just doesn't work when it sees an invisibility cloak, I'm so sorry to have made you laugh."
Using laughter to ease awkward situations is an essential social skill for businessmen. However, when there is a significant difference in the strength of the wizards on both sides, whether this skill is effective depends entirely on the attitude of the stronger party.
"okay."
Mo Ran waved his hand, not intending to make things difficult for the boss, and then took out Peter Pettigrew's corpse and the shrunken head together.
“50 Galleons, replace the brain in this person’s shrunken head, and turn him into a puppet.”
Looking at the dirty lump of fat lying on the ground, the coffin shop owner couldn't help but feel puzzled for a while.
"Sir, are you sure?"
He carefully considered his words and patiently asked:
"You're going to spend 50 Galleons on this guy? It's not that I'm ignorant of the rules, but most customers choose handsome corpses when creating intelligent cadavers. You know, even wizards don't have much spellcasting ability after being made into cadavers, so in order to..."
"You'd better start working right away if you want to earn those 50 Galleons."
Seeing that Mo Ran had already put things this way, the coffin shop owner had no choice but to quickly smile and say:
"Okay, okay, I'll get to work right away."
"Mobilicorpus." (Zombie Drift)
"Diffindo." (To be torn apart)
"Relashio." (Relaxation)
After chanting a spell, a naked insect tail, with no longer stiff limbs, floated to the operating table in the laboratory, guided by the boss's magic wand.
"what is this?"
Upon hearing Mo Ran's voice, the coffin shop owner immediately changed his disdainful and contemptuous gaze, looking at the small bottle his major customer was pointing to and flattering him:
“You have a keen eye; you found the most crucial element of the puppet-making ritual right away. This little creature is called a Brain-Eating Caterpillar, and it’s extremely rare. Apart from very ancient cemeteries, almost no one has ever seen them in the wild.”
"Because they feed on the brains of the dead?"
"Yes, when they hatch into butterflies, they project some memory images, which can easily cause panic among Muggles. Therefore, the European Ministry of Magic has strictly regulated these insects. The brain-eating caterpillars living in the breeding houses now are basically raised on harassing gnats."
As they were talking, the coffin shop owner opened the bottle and poured the brain-eating caterpillars inside into a petri dish next to him.
The words "harassing maniac" that had just come out of his mouth reminded Mo Ran of his junior classmate, Luna Lovegood, whom he had not yet met. However, instead of asking for evidence of the existence of the harassing maniac at this moment, it would be better to calm down and observe the other party's actions carefully.
Guided by the wand, the gray, brain-eating worm quickly climbed onto the tail of the insect. It first tried the nostrils, then followed Peter's chubby face to the holes in his ears and crawled inside.
"Once it finishes eating the brain, we can turn it into a potion and give it to the shrunken head to drink. That way, the head that was originally made with voodoo magic can replace the head on the corpse."
The coffin shop owner wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It's clear that just guiding the brain-devouring worm has taken a lot of his energy."
Time ticked by, and soon a soft gurgling sound began to emanate from Peter Pettigrew's brain. Mo Ran watched everything unfold before him, silently memorizing the steps involved in creating the puppet.
"The venom of the eight-eyed giant spider, the sap grass picked on the day of the new moon, the brain of the long-horned cobra, and the gem scarab beetle."
So, the origin of puppet magic might very well be from Egypt... Hmm, that makes sense, after all, it was a civilization that mummified pharaohs, so using corpses to study magic is quite reasonable.
pat!
As Peter Pettigrew on the lab table suddenly twitched, the brain-eating worm, which had swollen to the size of a loaf of bread, emerged from its eye socket in its tail. Its obese, immobile body and the eyeballs it had squeezed out looked like two lumps of rotten flesh slammed onto the lab table.
"Incendio!" (Burning flames)
The flames emanating from the coffin shop owner's wand were eerie under the green fluorescent light. Even worse, the two pints of liquid he had prepared in the cauldron were not water at all, but corpse oil.
The foul-smelling distillate filled the laboratory with a putrid odor. Although the corpse oil, after impurities were removed, was as transparent and free of impurities as water, its unique viscosity made stirring during the refining process quite difficult.
"Crucio!" (A sound that pierces the heart and rips out the bones)
"Sizzle! Sizzle!"
A sharp, agonizing scream rang out along with the sound of the gem shattering on the scarab's back, then abruptly ceased. Immediately afterward, the sapwort and the cobra's brain were tossed into the cauldron, which emitted a faint blue glow.
This move truly lowered the bar for Mo Ran's understanding of potion making.
In his memory, Professor Snape was already a very cold and ruthless potions master. Whenever he recalled the way Snape expressionlessly removed entrails and skinned people, Mo Ran couldn't help but compare him to the fishmongers he had seen in his previous life.
“Ingredients like lionfish spinal fluid and black octopus snail eyeballs must be extracted from live individuals. Remember, all marine magical creatures with exoskeletons, like the shrimp and crabs that Muggles eat, have a physiological structure that allows their internal organs to decompose before they die.”
The vivid memories of tutoring gradually overlapped with the scene before him. Compared to the coffin shop owner's use of the Cruciatus Curse to torture the scarab beetle, Professor Snape's "live treatment method" was at most a professional habit formed for the sake of academic rigor and potion quality.
Of course, this difference does not mean that there is room for improvement in the Potions class taught at Hogwarts. Compared with wizards who use dark magic without restraint, the Potions subject, which is known for its precision and rigor, does not have the logic of "ten times stronger when it becomes dark".
Take the method of breaking the gem on the scarab's back as an example. Using the motra rat's incisors to pick it off is a better way than causing extreme pain. This way, the scarab won't die from picking the gem and can be reused. Secondly, the quality of the potion can be further improved without having to add the scarab's corpse to the cauldron for brewing.
......
The numerous impurities gradually coalesced in the crucible into a thick "slurry," forcing the coffin maker to use his wand to separate it from the potion before proceeding to the final step. Finally, with the addition of the eight-eyed giant spider's venom, the entire pot of fragrant paste was finally ready.
"Come on, little guy, you've rested enough. Hurry up and swallow this stuff."
As the owner of the coffin shop spoke, he poured the potion into a bowl made of a skull, and the brain-eating worm, which was about to burst, actually raised its head again after smelling the aroma.
Two sounds, "smacking" and "plop," came simultaneously from the worm, which was swollen like bread. For the first time, Mo Ran, who had not yet learned about this strange species from Professor Scamander, witnessed the entire process of the brain-devouring worm forming a cocoon.
These amazing creatures don't have the ability to spin silk; they simply eat until their bodies are large enough to fill a skull. Once all their skin has stretched to the point of cracking, the larvae use the human brain cavity to spin a cocoon and begin the next stage of metamorphosis.
"What are you trying to do? You bastard, don't touch me! Ah! I'm going to bite you to death!"
The sudden scream pulled Mo Ran from his studies. He looked at the shrunken head that had been cut off and was cursing incessantly, and he had a rough idea of what was going to happen next.
As expected, the potion containing the venom of the eight-eyed giant spider retained the digestive enzymes unique to the spider venom. After consuming that bowl of fake brain matter, the brain-eating worm's body lost its normal ability to "cocoon." Apart from the small gray-black strips floating in the pale yellow liquid, what was now contained in the skull was nothing more than a bowl of thin, runny soup.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to throw me into this shit soup?"
"Be quiet. You'll have a body to use in a little while, and you'll thank me then."
"No!"
......
By the time the brain of the shrunken head fused with the brain-devouring worm's juice, almost half a day had passed. Watching the coffin shop owner doing the final cleanup of Little Petal's corpse, Mo Ran gained a deeper understanding of the application of dark magic.
"If we set aside the soul, which has no physical form, then for a wizard, the brain is the most important organ. No wonder I turned into a cocoon-like shape when I absorbed the Dementor's magic; it turns out that time has predetermined everything... Hmm, should I try to find another opportunity to visit the Brain Hall of the Department of Mysteries?"
Mo Ran, who was always dressed in a black robe, made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. Before he could make a decision, the voice of the coffin shop owner came from beside him.
"Alright, distinguished guest, your custom-made puppet is complete. Once the brain-eating caterpillar hatches, it will become a completely new brain that drives the body's actions."
"How long will that take?"
"It should be about six months from now. At that time, you can use the Soul Stealing Curse to control it to act according to your will."
The coffin shop owner, fearing his big client might be dissatisfied, appeared somewhat apprehensive. He knew that Mo Ran was willing to pay him 50 Galleons so he could learn the ritual magic for making puppets. Now that everything was settled, if the other party suddenly used overwhelming power as leverage and found some excuse to demand the money back, he would have no choice but to swallow his anger.
"Well done..."
Upon hearing this, the coffin shop owner breathed a huge sigh of relief. He rubbed his hands together and replied with a smile as if he had just gotten rid of a fly that had cleaned his face:
"Haha, I'm glad you're satisfied! I'm glad you're satisfied!"
"Mobilicorpus." (Zombie Drift)
"Don't get too excited yet. About me and this deal..."
"I understand! I understand! Don't worry, I will absolutely not say a word about it to anyone..."
"Do not."
Mo Ran, who was putting Little Pettigrew into his pocket, interrupted the coffin shop owner. He turned around and said in a rather serious tone:
"If anyone asks you about the puppets, just tell them the truth. But remember one thing: your shop has a lot of items that were lost from Borginborough. If you don't want to attract the attention of the Ministry of Magic or people from Hogwarts, you need to know what to say and what not to say."
Anyone who can do business in a place like Flip-Over Alley, a place rife with all sorts of people and dangers, is undoubtedly shrewd. So as soon as Mo Ran spoke, the other party immediately understood his meaning.
Who could be someone with extraordinary strength, unafraid to offend the dark wizards, yet wary of the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore? Even if the person standing in front of him wasn't Voldemort, he was most likely connected to the Death Eaters.
Thinking of this, even the fake smile on the coffin shop owner's face was almost impossible to maintain. He lowered his already hunched back even further before reorganizing his words:
"I understand, of course I understand. I'm not a capable person and can't help you achieve anything great, but I can handle this little thing, I can handle it..."
Snapped!
Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound of Apparition echoed through the laboratory. Looking at the empty space before him, the coffin shop owner slowly straightened his back and let out a long sigh.
"Hey... it's better if that madman doesn't come back. If he really comes to power, no one will have a good time."
......
The story begins on the day Harry first used the Time-Turner.
To avoid detection by the Marauder's Map, Mo Ran instinctively teleported himself deep into the Forbidden Forest. Little did he know that it was his very presence that triggered the Dementors' riot.
Like the hoarse noise of brake pads worn to their limit, a sound emanated from the throats of the black-robed monsters. The Dementors, theoretically devoid of emotion and only capable of devouring the fondest memories of humans, reacted with animalistic instincts upon sensing the terrifying presence that had consumed countless of their kind.
Realizing something was wrong, Mo Ran immediately used his Phantom Shift ability repeatedly, barely managing to trap the Dementors above the Forbidden Forest before they rushed into the school.
"Meterolo Maxima!" (Super-strong cloud formation)
"Silencio!" (Silently)
Whoosh!Whoosh!
With the two spells cast, the Dementors, who were baring their fangs and claws just a second ago, were silenced, like the protagonists in Van Gogh's The Scream. Apart from their black robes fluttering in the air like death flags, they could no longer make a sound.
At the same time, the hundreds of Dementors gathered together caused the air temperature to plummet to a level not typical of Europe. Numerous small ice crystals began to condense high in the sky, forming thick cumulus clouds. Under the influence of Mo Ran's weather cloud spell, these clouds gradually expanded outwards, and in just half a minute, a curtain-like cloud completely separated the sky from the Forbidden Forest.
"and many more!"
Looking at the Dementor he had successfully imprisoned in his inescapable net, Mo Ran suddenly sensed something was amiss.
"Shouldn't this be the day before I used the Darkening Curse? But wait! If that's the case, wouldn't I have to wait until dark to let these monsters cause trouble in the castle? Could it be..."
Click!
A muffled clap of thunder suddenly came from directly below him, and memories of Harry and Hermione using the Pensieve flashed through his mind like an electric shock. Without much thought, Mo Ran immediately dispelled the black mist and Apparated to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.
"Expecto Patronum!" (The Patronus)
"Expecto Patronum!" (The Patronus)
Hermione, influenced by Moran's actions and now targeted by hundreds of Dementors, chanted a spell aloud in the Forbidden Forest. However, unable to recall any happy memories, she couldn't even release a wisp of silver mist from the tip of her wand.
At this critical moment, a blue lightning bolt, carrying a breathtaking power, illuminated the dark Forbidden Forest.
A large number of Dementors were strung together like candied hawthorns, connected in a line from top to bottom by electric arcs.
Thus, the cycle of time has once again completed an incredible closed loop.