My Little Pony: Another World Adventure

"…Mr. Magnus, are you still listening, sir?"

Latan blinked hard, and the crackling sound of the stove flame in the basement kitchen sounded again. It was as if the burning giant eye had never appeared, but the chill brought by the darkness had penetrated into his bones.

Ordinary magic could never have such an effect on my body. The ring was inhabited by an extremely powerful will. Old Tom could not recognize the words it displayed in the flames. The only possibility was -

"I'm listening, Tom." Latan pressed the intercom button and kept his tone steady. "Please do me a favor, old man. Don't touch the ring, and don't let anyone get close to it. I'll be there soon. Remember, if it starts talking to you, run away immediately."

"Where are you going?" Draco looked panicked. "The castle has just survived a battle. People need you. We need you!"

Lucius tugged at his son, pursed his lips and shook his head slightly, signaling Draco to shut up.

"That's why I asked Nico to bring you here, Draco."

Latan hated himself for becoming more and more accustomed to using lies to manipulate others, but this was the fastest way at the moment to let them know that the situation was still under his control.

"Professors are certainly trying to calm students, but that doesn't stop rumors from growing in the shadows. You have to stop it, by any means that don't cause harm."

Draco's pale face turned a little blue. "I can't do that." He said, "I've never done anything like this before..."

"Then learn to do it!" Latan noticed the impatience in his tone. He walked to Draco and squatted down, putting his palm on the little Malfoy's shoulder. "Think about how your father did it. How he smoothly mediates between forces, and how he persuades business partners with words. You can do it, Draco, I believe in you."

"I can help." Hermione looked at Ron, who was cursing at Pettigrew, with concern, and said to Draco, "But you have to call Crabbe and Goyle. Their fists should be able to shut up a lot of people."

Draco's lips moved slightly, and he looked at Latarn with a somewhat flustered look, but he was much calmer than before. He nodded and said softly, "Okay... uh... sir."

"You are not my follower, just call me by my name."

Latan stood up and walked to Neville, and said to him who was staring at Bellatrix: "I know she tortured your parents to madness, so do you want revenge?"

Neville raised his tense face. Latan saw that he had bitten his lips, his teeth were stained red with blood, and he held the wand tightly in his hand. His thoughts were self-evident.

"Very good." Ratan pointed at Bellatrix, who hadn't recognized Neville yet. The Soul Devouring Wand took shape amidst the strange wriggling sound. "Petrify everyone!"

Bellatrix stood at attention all of a sudden, with her hands pressed tightly against her sides and her feet firmly together. The only part of her body that could still move was her eyes, and she fell straight to the ground.

Her nominal husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, was merely a little surprised, but did not say much. He just looked at Latan with an inquiring look.

The wand turned back into a ring, and Latarn gently pushed Neville's shoulder, leaned over and whispered in his ear: "She is yours."

After saying this, he no longer cared about what was happening in the basement kitchen, and strode towards the exit, shouting, "Lucius!"

"My lord, I am at your service at any time." Lucius ran to catch up with Latan's strides. Accustomed to a life of luxury, he was breathing rapidly, but his words were surprisingly coherent.

"Take the rest of the people to Hogsmeade and let them participate in the construction of the factory. Their wands will be handed over to Zangief for safekeeping, and you will be responsible for managing their work shifts. Tell Professor Mance and Deputy Minister Karl that I am considering developing a deeper cooperation with Cassel College, provided that I see that Cassel College attaches great importance to Hogwarts. Ask them to arrange a meeting with Headmaster Cassel. I have news that the dragon slayers are interested in telling them."

Latan pushed open the door to the basement kitchen, and it swung shut behind him. It looked like a giant oil painting as tall as the ceiling, with a silver bowl filled with sweet fruits, and the plump green pear was the key to opening it.

"Yes, my lord. No problem, my lord." Lucius followed Latan's footsteps and ran up the stairs, writing on the parchment with his shorthand quill.

"The warm snow has stopped, which means that the blocked Owl Communications has been restored. We must coordinate all the forces at our disposal. How many industries do you have, Lucius?"

"I'm afraid there aren't many in the UK, my lord. I have focused the family business on continental Europe and the United States, and we usually conduct business in the UK as an investor. There are only thirty-three shops and four factories." Lucius took a few deep breaths, and beads of hot sweat rolled down his nose as he ran.

"I need a newspaper." Latan bent down and walked through the pointed stone archway into the castle's entrance hall. "If the enemy cooperates with the Ministry of Magic as I imagine, it means that the Daily Prophet will unconditionally turn to them and spread information that is unfavorable to us as the mouthpiece of the government. We must occupy the high ground of public opinion before the enemy."

"This... this may be difficult, my lord." Lucius said with difficulty, swinging his shorthand quill pen that was not writing coherently. "The Daily Prophet has a profound influence on the British wizarding world. It has been cultivating its own audience since 1650. It is not something that any new newspaper can compete with."

"What if it's an old magazine?" A dreamy female voice came from the marble steps.

Ratan stopped at the stone beam of the castle gate and turned to look in the direction of the stairs. He saw "crazy girl" Luna Lovegood standing there with a smile on her face. Around her neck hung a necklace made of butterbeer corks, and on her white earlobes hung two radish-shaped airship plums (a kind of plum specialty of the magical world).

"Rani?" Latan asked.

"The one talking to you now is Luna." The crazy girl casually twisted her white-blonde hair with her fingers. "My body has always been crowded, living with two souls and a sword. But it's much better now, with Ginny helping me share the soul. Oh, she wanted to get out of bed to find you, but her mother wouldn't let her."

Latarn frowned, "Since when did it start?"

"About half an hour ago... Oh! You mean your sister." Luna grinned, revealing eight neat little white teeth, and laughed happily, "Lani has been with me since I was born, and so has the sword. To be honest, I can't get along with her, and she has told me more than once that Ginny would be a better match for her. But the sword likes me, and I like it too."

"So your appearance by the Black Lake was no accident. (See Chapter 20 for details)" Latan said suddenly, "She asked you to monitor me."

"It's 'visit'." Luna shook her finger and corrected Latan's statement, "She wanted to see how much memory you retained, and I'm also curious about what kind of person her brother is. To be honest, I'm quite satisfied. I've wanted a brother since I was a child. But my mother has already..."

Her expression dimmed for a moment, then brightened immediately. She put one hand on her waist and asked, "So, do you want my help or not?"

Lucius rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute," he said to Luna in surprise. "I know your father! Xenophilius Lovegood, the writer and editor-in-chief of The Quibbler, right?"

"That's right." Luna raised her chin proudly and modestly. "Sir, it seems that you are also a loyal reader of The Quibbler. You must also have a strong interest in the Snorlax (Latan covered his face silently). I even composed a song for this magical and lovely creature."

Without warning, she began to sing: "Curved horn snoring~Curved horn snoring beast~Curved big horn silly beast~"

"That thing doesn't exist!" Lucius yelled frantically, "And your father even slandered my whole family in a magazine, saying that they were all transformed from ferrets!"

"Hmm..." Luna tapped her lower lip with her finger, her misty eyes pure and innocent, "But you and your son really look like ferrets."

"My Lord!" Lucius turned to Latan in despair. "Even if we can't gain the upper hand in public opinion, we shouldn't have chosen such a partner! Xenophilius is simply a conspiracy theory fanatic. He even thinks that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were born from the same bed!"

Latan looked down at him, his eyes empty and his face expressionless.

Lucius was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened suddenly, as if struck by lightning. "They..." he stammered, "The White Wizard and the Dark Lord...they really slept together?"

"Would you mind writing to Mr. Lovegood to discuss the possibility of cooperation?" Latan looked away stiffly. "Remind Xenophilius that the article about the Scimitar-Horned Snorkle can be kept, but I don't want to see conspiracy theories about Fudge baking goblins into pies in The Quibbler."

He paused for a moment and added, "But I'm afraid the goblin pie thing will soon become more than just speculation."

"Great!" Luna jumped up happily. "Dad will be very happy if more people know about the Scimitar-Horned Snorkle!"

Lucius looked helplessly at the girl who had completely missed the point. He felt that his future as an aide to the Red Devil King was bleak and full of thorns.

"Luna, where is Lani now?" asked Latan.

"In Ginny's body." Luna put her hands behind her back and tiptoed, making people afraid that she would fall down the marble steps full of potholes. "It will take some time for her to discover her existence. At first, Ginny will only think it is a hallucination and illusion. After Luna accumulates enough strength, she will be able to hear her voice clearly."

"This is caused by soul transfer. Even transferring a soul into a soulless body requires a lot of magic power, let alone transferring it into a living person."

Latan said, while raising his palm to Lin Youdao who was leaning over the stairs, signaling him to wait for a moment, "But I am more concerned about where her physical body is."

"I don't know." Luna submitted an excellent answer, "She never talked to me about this. You should ask Ginny yourself. Latan, Lani likes you as a brother."

Maybe it's because I'm much more rational than her other brother, Latan thought to himself.

Luna skipped upstairs. Lucius also arranged the things to do on the parchment and saluted to Latarn: "My lord, I will take my leave now."

"We are not acting out a Victorian court drama, Lucius. The era I want to create does not involve oppression and slavery, and people should not be divided into different classes. If you must have a title that highlights my status, you can call me General, or Chairman."

Lucius bent even lower, took two steps backwards, then straightened up and walked through the castle gate that was shattered by the star and moon magic, and walked quickly towards Hogsmeade.

"So," Latan looked at Lin Youdao, "what do you want from me?"

The young Taoist bowed his head with a smile. "Donor," he said, "I have a question and a piece of good news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

I just said the same thing to Harry, god damn, it's all his fault.

Latan sighed through his nose, "You have figured out how to treat those infected with Warm Snow."

Lin Youdao smiled even more. "You really can't hide anything from your eyes, benefactor. I'm beginning to doubt whether you are proficient in the art of Zhouyi. Yes, the infected students and our gamekeepers have been cured. I discussed it with the brothers who specialize in alchemy in Longhu Mountain and decided to use Mandrake grass-"