Hogwarts: I graduated before the system came

Lupin's brows were tightly knitted together. He stopped in front of an inconspicuous earth slope, bent down, and sniffed carefully.

A faint smell, a mixture of despair, pain and strong medicine, is drifting out from the depths of the soil.

This breath instantly awakened a dormant wildness deep in his blood, not because of excitement, but because of extreme fear and anger.

"There's something wrong inside."

Douglas took out the magic radar and inserted a slender probe into the soil.

"A cave sealed by magic. The residual magical fluctuations are strong, but there are no signs of life... Wait, there are traces of defensive magic traps."

Lupin couldn't wait any longer. He drew his wand and pointed it at the slope, a flash of scarlet in his eyes:

"Thick earth separation!"

With a low roar from him, the wet soil seemed to be torn apart to the sides by a pair of invisible giant hands, revealing a huge stone door.

The stone slab was engraved with dense runes that he had never seen before.

The moment the soil was turned over, the stench of blood and medicine hit Lupin in the face. A suppressed groan came from his throat. He took a step back suddenly, bent over and retched violently, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

"here……"

He held onto the tree trunk beside him, his fingers turning white from the exertion, his voice intermittent from the trembling.

"More than one...more than one of our kind was killed here alive...their souls...their wails are still here..."

Douglas frowned as he looked at Lupin, who was almost collapsed.

"Remus, calm down! This place is a trap, a trap, waiting for curious beasts or... people like us to get in."

He grabbed Lupin and stopped him from getting any closer.

"Once we crack this door, the entire Apennine Mountains will receive the signal. We are looking for someone, not here to die."

As he spoke, he took out a small notebook from his pocket, tore off a page, and wrote a few words quickly on it with the tip of his wand.

Then he skillfully folded the paper into a paper crane.

The paper crane flapped its wings twice in his palm, then flew up lightly and landed silently on the branch of a big tree nearby, disguised as an ordinary leaf.

He dusted off his hands and spoke in a relaxed tone as if he were discussing the weather:

"Come on, Remus. We have to give Director Piero a chance to report to his superiors, don't we? After all, it's his job to uphold the dignity of the Italian wizarding community."

Douglas's mouth curled up in a sneer.

"It just so happens that I think they also need an excuse to attack the Vatican."

The night wind swept through the mountains and forests, bringing a chill that made your teeth ache.

Nearly half an hour later, at the place where Douglas and Lupin disappeared, a few fallen leaves were brushed aside by an invisible force.

Piero's figure walked out of a distorted air, his boots covered with mud, and his eyes scanned the ground sharply.

An Auror appeared behind him and whispered:

"Director, their anti-tracking spell was very powerful. We almost lost them. Fortunately, they intentionally left a trace of magic."

He waved his hand, and several elite Aurors from the Italian Ministry of Magic immediately fanned out behind him.

A faint and restrained light flickered at the tip of the wand, like five cheetahs lurking in the shadows, silently surveying every inch of land.

Piero's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, sweeping across the barely perceptible traces on the ground that were almost covered by fallen leaves.

"Director, here."

Another young Auror pointed to the slope ahead that had been forcibly broken open by magic.

Piero didn't step forward immediately, he just narrowed his eyes.

Years of experience have taught him that the more ordinary a place seems, the more likely it is to hide deadly fangs.

At this moment, his shoulders sank slightly, as if a leaf blown down by the wind had fallen on them.

"careful!"

The young Auror raised his wand automatically.

"lay down."

Piero didn't even turn his head, and his tone was flat.

He stretched out his hand, and the "leaf" quickly expanded in his palm and turned into a small paper crane.

The paper crane flapped its wings twice, and a lazy yet playful voice emanated from it. It was quiet, but it was clearly heard by everyone present:

"Dear Director Piero, a gift for you."

"A certain force has violated the basic ethics of the wizarding world. I believe you will not stand idly by. I leave the situation to you."

The sound disappeared, and the paper crane spontaneously combusted with a "puff" sound and turned into ashes.

The corners of Piero's mouth twitched and his eyes became colder.

A trace of anger flashed across the young Auror's face:

"He's treating us like his personal cleanup crew!"

"Shut up!"

Piero scolded coldly, staring at the stone door, his teeth clenched, and the muscles on his cheeks stretched into a hard line.

Douglas is truly worthy of his name, even taking advantage of others is so... frank and precise.

This guy is like a top chess player, who has calculated that he will definitely take up this hot chess piece.

His gaze finally fell on the earth slope that was forcibly broken open by magic, and the stone door behind it that was carved with strange runes.

The stench of despair mixed with medicine was seeping out from the crack of the door, making people shudder.

A young Auror stepped forward and asked in a low voice:

"Director, do you need us to break in and investigate?"

Piero scolded without even turning his head, his voice full of suppressed anger:

"Idiot! Do you want to attract the entire Apennine Knights?"

He did not touch the stone door, but drew out his wand, condensed a wisp of silver smoke thinner than a hair at the tip, and carefully probed it into the gap in the stone slab.

After a moment, the smoke receded, and several distorted images appeared on the tip of his staff - a brand, a cage, and a face distorted in pain.

"This is the latest model of the Holy Cage of the Holy See's Holy Judgment Office!"

Piero's voice was cold.

"A magical trap designed to capture people alive and brand them mentally. It's connected to at least five prayer beacons.

Once we forcefully touch it with conventional magic, the defense system will instantly convert our magical fluctuations into holy light signals. Within a minute, the mad dogs of the St. Benedict Wolf Hunter Order will surround this place completely!"

He looked at the door, as if he could see through the stone and see the tragedy that had happened inside.

The young Auror's face turned pale instantly, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

Only then did he realize that his proposal was tantamount to suicide.

Piero spoke word by word, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Adam Project's illegal experiment site... How dare they do this on our territory!"

Piero took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress the anger in his heart.

He turned around and gave new orders to his subordinates:

"Mark this place, and use the highest level of anti-detection and obfuscation spells to hide the entire area. Do it cleanly and don't leave any traces of the Ministry of Magic."

His gaze turned towards the depths of the forest where Douglas and Lupin had disappeared.

"That bastard Holmes wants to use us as pawns, but he's right. This is indeed a...great gift."

There was a gleam in Piero's eyes:

"The Minister was worried that he didn't have enough leverage to force the Holy See to make concessions at the European Magic Affairs Committee. Now, we have it."

Chapter 385 Your vacation...is over

The moonlight flowed like mercury on the rugged mountain road.

The two men were one in front and one behind, their figures stretched out long and slender, like two ghosts blending into the night.

The abandoned mining area was just ahead, like the dark mouth of a silent beast, swallowing up all the light.

Douglas and Lupin's steps were light and cautious.

However, when he was less than five hundred meters away from the silent entrance, Lupin's footsteps suddenly stopped. He slowly raised his head, his nostrils twitching slightly, and his originally vigilant expression was instantly replaced by a fear that came from his blood.

All the muscles in his body tensed up instantly, as if he had been electrocuted, and even the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

It wasn't because of the cold, but an instinctive tremor that came from deep in the blood when being targeted by a natural enemy.

He listened carefully, but the only sounds on the wind were the rustling of leaves and the cry of a distant night owl.

"Douglas, it's an ambush!"

Lupin's voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"There are a lot of them... a lot! They've surrounded the entire area!"

Douglas reacted almost the same moment Lupin spoke.

He did not hesitate or explore at all because he trusted Lupin's perception unconditionally.

He grabbed Lupin's arm and shouted, "Go!"

At this time, he didn't even consider Disapparition. Since the enemy had already set up an ambush, it was impossible for him not to prepare an anti-Disapparition spell.

He turned around with Lupin and ran for his life towards a steeper ridge on the side of the road they came from.

Yet, their actions seemed to flip a switch.

"call out--!"

A sharp and piercing whistle pierced the silent night sky, like an invisible command.

The next second, dozens of interwoven light nets suddenly lit up in all directions in the woods around them!

Those light nets were composed of pure holy light with golden runes flowing on them. They instantly blocked all their retreat routes and turned the area into a huge cage.

Immediately afterwards, the ground made a "puff" sound, and countless silver powders blessed by sacred prayers sprayed out from the ground, spreading rapidly like a deadly mist.

"Ugh!"

Lupin groaned in pain. The smell of the silver powder when it came into contact with the air made him feel as if his skin was burned by a branding iron and his lungs were filled with boiling magma. Even the circulation of his magic became sluggish and painful.

Douglas immediately protected Lupin behind him, waved his wand, and an invisible barrier blocked most of the silver powder, but the pervasive sacred aura still made Lupin suffer.

rustling... rustling...

In the shadows of the woods, black figures emerged.

Dozens of knights dressed in dark monk robes and moving silently walked out from behind the trees.

They held silver swords gleaming with cold light and precisely shaped crossbows, coordinated with each other and moved swiftly, like a group of well-trained hounds, rapidly shrinking the encirclement, and each step was precisely on the tactical node.

There was no fanaticism in their eyes, only cold discipline.

Leading the group was a tall, young female knight.

She held a kite shield engraved with the holy emblem of Saint Sebastian in her left hand, and did not draw her sword with her right hand, but raised it calmly and made a stop gesture.

Her eyes were firm and cold, like the unmelted ice on the top of the Alps. She calmly commanded her men to drive and oppress them, pushing Douglas and Lupin step by step towards the center of the light network. Her tactical skills were shockingly high.

Lupin's condition was getting worse.

In this area completely purified by the sacred aura, the werewolf blood in his body was roaring wildly.

A primitive, violent desire to attack grew in his heart, urging him to pounce and tear these enemies who exuded a clean aura into pieces.

But his human reason suppressed this impulse tightly. The violent conflict between the two wills made him tremble all over and he could hardly stand.

Douglas felt Lupin trembling beside him. He didn't look back, but just pressed his back closer to Lupin's, using his body to share some of the pressure for him.

While calmly observing the opponent's formation.

He soon discovered the problem.