HP: Fantastic Beasts And The Right Way To Use Them - 312

Chapter 312: More Work Again

After Hufflepuff spoke that final line, the pasture fell into a heavy silence.

Evans lowered his head, clearly working through the flood of information he had just received. Beside him, the Dark Wizard King showed no reaction at all, as if she had known it for a long time.

While Evans was deep in thought, Hufflepuff turned to face the woman in fine robes hovering in midair.

She had noticed this lady a long time ago, but earlier, the woman had been helping deal with the mist, leaving no chance to speak. After that, the inheritor she had chosen began asking questions, and Hufflepuff’s duty was to answer them. She could not do anything else in the middle of that.

Only now did she finally have a moment.

“How should I address you?” Hufflepuff asked, still wearing that gentle smile, and offered her hand.

The Dark Wizard King extended her own hand and shook the old palm. She opened her mouth, fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

“Just call me the Dark Wizard King.”

Hufflepuff tilted her head, a little puzzled. “That is an odd title. I do not think you are some wicked Dark witch.”

The woman before her displayed many traits tied to dark magic, but Hufflepuff did not feel she was an irredeemable villain like Herpo.

Her instincts in such matters were rarely wrong.

After another long silence, the Dark Wizard King replied in a low, steady voice.

“It is to ensure I never forget what I once did.”

Hufflepuff exchanged a few more words with her, but perhaps because of that topic, the Dark Wizard King’s mood did not lift. Noticing it, Hufflepuff ended the conversation at the right moment and went back to fussing over the hippogriff that fascinated her so much.

About three minutes later, Evans finally sorted through everything. He lifted his head and asked, “So do I need to deal with Herpo first?”

“No. Not that urgently.” Hufflepuff shook her head. “Earlier, I only told you about dark magic and the Hall of Lost Dreams. Beyond that, I still need to teach you some important rituals and knowledge. That is the true purpose of this space.”

“With them, this world will be better prepared for that era’s return.”

“Once I finish, my mission will be complete. But do not worry. Even after my mission ends, this space will remain for at least half a month, so those who come after can study how it was formed.”

“In those two weeks, Herpo’s reach should not be able to enter. You will have enough time to deal with…”

She stopped mid-sentence.

Hufflepuff’s expression changed sharply. She looked up at the sky above the pasture, her eyes turning grave.

Evans followed her gaze.

A thin wisp of grey-black mist had appeared in the sky at some point. It grew rapidly, spreading with terrifying speed. In only a few seconds, it had corroded a large portion of the heavens above them.

Seeing the familiar scene, Evans turned to look at the woman beside him, who was also watching the sky.

Back in Egypt, mist like this had appeared above her pyramid as well. As it expanded, the ground had spawned a mass of monsters she had called her people.

Now it seemed this was just another standard trick.

“This malice is trying to seize this space?” The Dark Wizard King’s eyes flickered with confusion, but her hands did not pause. Threads of paler mist gathered around her, and one mummy-like creature after another formed on the ground, wrapped in bandages. They launched themselves at the mist in the sky.

Wait, they can fly?

Evans glanced at the bandaged creatures shooting upward, then looked at the Dark Wizard King’s puzzled expression and could not help asking, “You seem surprised. You did not know malice could be used like this?”

In his impression, apart from her relentless pursuit of Merlin, the Dark Wizard King’s defining trait was her deep understanding of dark magic that he himself was not familiar with.

After all, she belonged to Merlin’s generation and had been Morgana’s student.

And yet, even she had blind spots.

“Where malice touches, it can become a Dark wizard’s territory,” she explained. “Within that territory, we can exert far greater power. For example, I can grant my people a form of undying persistence within it.”

“But this malice is not merely expanding territory. It is invading. It is trying to take this space, rather than turn this space into its territory.”

“What is the difference?” Evans asked.

Seeing that he truly did not understand, the Dark Wizard King explained patiently. “Normal territory expansion is like claiming unowned land as your own. But this is a separate, carved-out space. It has a true controller. Even if malice fully invades every inch of it, all it can do is destroy it, not gain control of it.”

“In principle, the best way for a Dark wizard to take a place like this is to control the controller and turn them into a puppet, then take the space indirectly, the way he did before.”

“But right now, he seems to be forcibly ripping control away. It is not reasonable.” Her eyes were filled with genuine confusion, as if the scene were challenging everything she knew.

“So it is like an animal marking its territory, but if it tries that on a house with a lock, it still will not own the house?” Evans summarised.

“That comparison is disgusting,” the Dark Wizard King said, frowning, though she still nodded. “But yes. That is about right.”

With that confirmation, Evans looked toward the figure standing not far away, staring up at the sky without moving. In just this short time, the old woman who had looked so solid earlier had become noticeably faint and unreal.

“I take it the other spaces are experiencing the same thing?” Evans asked.

After a brief silence, Hufflepuff’s echo nodded. “Yes. We share certain links. Not many, but enough to synchronise some sensations.”

“Then I probably do not have time to wait for you to finish teaching me everything.”

Evans smiled, a little helplessly. He looked once more at the mist in the sky, then turned to the Dark Wizard King.

“Could I ask you to hold this place together for a while?”

The Dark Wizard King nodded. “No problem. I was going to study this use of malice anyway.”

“Thank you,” Evans spoke with real seriousness, then looked toward the magical creatures not far away, all watching the sky with wary eyes.

“Come on. More work to do.”