“Medea Slytherin has awakened.”
Mr. Graves said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Scott nodded without showing any surprise.
He asked, “Do you know where she is now and what she is doing?”
“I don’t know where she is, but I know what she’s trying to do.”
Mr. Graves looked down at the tabletop of the small round table and spoke in a serious tone.
“This is related to a magical item collected by the Graves family.”
Scott remembered the messages he had listened to.
Medea asked Mrs. Zabini to marry Mr. Graves in order to gain something from the Graves family.
“It stands to reason that you should be in a situation where you are being monitored.”
Scott looked up at Mr. Graves.
“But you always had Milton’s mother with you.”
“I had to do it.”
Mr. Graves smiled wryly again.
“If I didn’t take her with me, she might be in danger.”
Scott was still a little hard to understand.
It wasn’t that he looked down on Mr. Graves.
But, can he really protect Milton’s mother on his own?
It would be better to send them abroad far away.
Mr. Graves seemed to know what Scott was thinking.
He explained, “All this is the result of me pretending to be smart.”
Next he told the whole story, starting before his marriage to Madame Zabini.
From the beginning of his acquaintance with Mrs. Zabini, Mr. Graves had always been on his guard.
After all, that person is the famous “Black Widow” in the British wizarding world.
But he couldn’t figure it out.
He considered himself to be just a man with neither power nor wealth, but Mrs. Zabini was a pure-blood witch with high aspirations and self-proclaimed nobility.
There should be no intersection between them.
Because he doesn’t think he has anything worthy of the “Black Widow”‘s plot.
“I was once complacent.”
Mr. Graves analyzes himself.
“after all……”
At this point, he probably realized that the Scott he was talking to at the moment was his son’s friend, so he stopped talking.
“I understand,” Scott said.
He is also a man, how could he not understand that kind of mentality.
“But then…”
Mr. Graves smiled self-deprecatingly and continued.
Later, a colleague from the Ministry of Magic recruited him to join the coven of Medea.
“It should have been his unauthorized action. He was drunk at the time, but it was precisely because of that that I became suspicious of some things.”
He took advantage of his unpreparedness and subdued the colleague, gave him Veritaserum, and later used the Amnesia Curse to erase the other person’s memory of that period.
“From his mouth, I learned that Zabini is also a member of the Guild.”
At this point, Mr. Graves became completely wary of Mrs. Zabini.
“But I ended up making the wrong choice…”
He chose to deal with Mrs. Zabini to learn more about the truth.
“Since then, many people have misunderstood my relationship with Zabini, including Milton’s mother.”
But Mr. Graves was already in a difficult position, and he was obviously unwilling to accept the fact that Mrs. Zabini was not close to him.
In the end, he finally learned a terrible truth——
Madame Zabini approached him at the behest of Medea Slytherin.
All in order to obtain a certain magical item hidden by his father, Mr. Graves Sr.
Mr. Graves became frightened and panicked.
He thinks he can’t resist what Medea wants to do.
If he withdraws at this time, not to mention Medea, will Mrs. Zabini and the other members of the coven take revenge on him?
Or simply take revenge on his wife and children.
He didn’t dare to gamble.
“Of course, this was only part of the reason why I ultimately chose to marry Zabini.”
Mr. Graves laughed to himself again.
“The other part is that I crave power.”
Scott looked at him in surprise.
But Mr. Graves said: “I know what you are capable of, Scott. There is not much point in lying in front of you to save face.”
Scott just said: “Your choice is indeed somewhat unwise.”
Mr. Graves nodded in agreement.
“I viewed that marriage as a deal, hoping to dance on the edge of a knife and gain the power I longed for while protecting my family.”
“It turns out that I think too highly of myself.”
“The damage this has caused to Milton and his mother is something I will never be able to undo.”
Rather than commenting on the choices he made in the past, Scott spoke out about his current predicament.
“Since you have kept Milton’s mother with you, it means that your plan has been expected by the other party.”
“Yes, Zabini knew all along.”
Mr. Graves sounded a little excited.
“She always knew that Milton’s mother wasn’t really gone.”
“She was watching my jokes and watching us hide around like lost dogs.”
Scott frowned, “Why is that?”
“Because Ms. Slytherin was defeated by Voldemort.”
Mr. Graves managed to calm down.
“They didn’t want to go too far while Ms. Slytherin was sleeping.”
“Without Ms. Slytherin, they wouldn’t be able to resist the Ministry of Magic, let alone attract Dumbledore’s attention.”
“We are safe and sound until now, all because of their laissez-faire.”
“And as long as we stay in the UK, no one will bother us.”
Scott asked, “That time in Vienna?”
Mr. Graves told him that that time he tried to send Milton’s mother away quietly, but in the end he returned to England under the “protection” of several witches.
“At that time, they didn’t dare to go too far until I failed to run for minister…”
Scott got it.
After losing the election, Mr. Graves lost his political leverage and became less important.
He said softly: “Now that Medea has awakened, it’s time for them to take action.”
“you’re right.”
Mr. Graves looked dejected.
“Do you know what that magical item Medea wants to get?”
Scott asked calmly.
“And…why did they use such roundabout methods?”
With Medea’s strength, wouldn’t it be better to come to the door quietly and snatch the magic item directly from old Mr. Graves?
Why make things so complicated?
“I don’t know what that item is specifically. It is said that it can break many magics. As long as it accumulates power for long enough, it may be able to break any magic.”
Mr. Graves said hesitantly.
Break any magic?
Intuition reminded Scott of the passages of Avalon.
Mr. Graves continued: “As for why they didn’t snatch it directly, the reason is that it is said that my father made many arrangements for that magic item, and he could make it destroy itself in a single thought.”
“It is said?” Scott was puzzled.
Mr. Graves looked a little embarrassed.
“This is all information I got from inquiring.”
“And my father never told us anything about that magical object.”
“But just about every emerging wizarding family and pureblood family has heard rumors about that magical item.”
Scott was surprised, “So many things happened, and you didn’t tell your father?”
Mr Graves said: “My father knew everything that happened to the Graves family but he never told us anything.”
Scott didn’t understand.
As a patriarch, it was possible for old Mr. Graves to be arbitrary, but it was a bit strange that he didn’t say anything at this point.
“this is normal.”
Mr. Graves was not surprised.
“That’s just the way my father was.”
But Scott always felt that something was fishy.
He gathered his thoughts.
“Mrs. Zabini may have wanted to find out more about your father’s arrangements for that magical item, but now…”
“Even we don’t know. It’s impossible for her to find out anything.”
Mr. Graves affirmed.
“If Ms. Slytherin can’t wait, they’ll have to find another way after all.”
Scott nodded, “As long as it’s unexpected, a Soul Imperius Curse can solve all problems.”
“My father is not that easy to fall into. He has been extremely cautious throughout his life.”
Mr. Graves seemed to have great confidence in Mr. Graves Sr.
But if the difference in strength is too big…
Scott expressed this with his eyes.
“You’re right, Scott.”
Mr. Graves finally got to the point.
“That’s what I really want to tell you.”
Scott listened carefully.
Mr. Graves said: “The whole witch community seems to be calm and no one is taking any action, but you should know very well that they have private communication channels.”
“You mean the LAN built into the Floo network?”
Scott was quite surprised.
“Because Dumbledore knew about this, I thought that appropriate measures had been taken after Ms. Bones came to power.”
“As far as I know, those little fireplaces are still in use,” Mr. Graves said.
Scott frowned, “Does that mean the Ministry of Magic can’t block or monitor?”
Mr. Graves shook his head. “Unless they shut down the entire Floo network, but obviously they can’t do that.”
Scott did not dwell on this for the time being, but continued to ask him, “Do you know Medea’s specific plan next?”
Mr. Graves shook his head again.
“Sorry, I don’t know much.” He said apologetically, “But I’m pretty sure that their next target is my father’s place.”
In other words, if Scott wants to face Medea, is the best way to go to the Graves house and wait?
“I see……”
Scott remained calm.
“Thank you for telling me this.”
“No, no need to say thank you, you should know that I want to ask for help, Scott.”
Mr. Graves spoke earnestly.
“Without help, I fear Milton and his mother will also be used as leverage against my father.”
“But I know my father, and he will never relent for them.”
Scott knew very well——
Mr. Graves did not mention himself, but spoke of Milton and his mother, in an apparent attempt to soften Scott’s heart.
But he really couldn’t leave it alone.
He thought for a while and quickly came up with an idea.
“Mr. Graves, I can provide you with an absolutely safe place to take refuge, and I will also monitor your father’s location at all times, but you will need to provide the address.”
“Absolutely safe?”
Mr. Graves looked at him in surprise, as if he didn’t understand why he could say it so confidently.
Scott stood up and held the [Eye of Odin] pendant on his chest.
With a burst of white light, an illusory light door appeared in the air.
“Follow me.”
Scott walked into the light door.
Mr. Graves, who followed into the light door, looked at the forest in the alien space in shock.
“This… this is…”
“This is an alien space different from the real space, which was opened up by ancient wizards with powerful space magic.”
Scott introduced him.
“As you can see, this is an absolutely safe place.”
Then he took Mr. Graves for a distance and came to his villa.
“This is the house I built specially. It has complete living facilities and sufficient food storage. You can live here until the crisis is resolved.”
“Please let Milton’s mother move in!”
Mr. Graves said in a requesting tone.
Scott turned his head in surprise, “So what about you and Milton?”
Mr. Graves shook his head.
“I’m not worried about Milton. He can stay with you or go back to Hogwarts directly.”
“As for me, I will go to my father to accompany him to face what’s next.”
Scott nodded gently and didn’t persuade him.
He stretched out his hand and the light door appeared in front of the two again.
After leaving the alien space, the two walked out of the study again.
At this time, Milton was still comforting his mother in the living room.
Milton’s mother was no longer out of control like before, but she was still saying something with self-blame.
Seeing Scott and Mr. Graves come out, she immediately wiped her tears and tidied her appearance.
“I’m sorry, this is the first time we met.”
She stood up and said apologetically.
“Scott, thank you, thank you for helping Milton a lot…”
Then, she praised Scott again and again.
Scott could only talk to her modestly.
“Dear…”
Mr. Graves came over and told Milton and his mother about the next arrangements.
Milton’s mother just looked at Mr. Graves deeply, then nodded silently and accepted the arrangement.
Next, she moved into the villa in the [Eye of Odin] space accompanied by Milton and Mr. Graves.
She was just a Muggle, and she was definitely not used to Scott’s magical furniture and “home appliances”.
Fortunately, Rimbaud was now guarding the vault under the villa, so Scott appointed him as Milton’s mother’s life assistant.
Scott did not disturb their family’s reunion and separation until Mr. Graves and Milton took the initiative to bring it up, and then took them out of the alien space.
Milton thanked Scott endlessly again.
Scott didn’t want to hear him thanking him endlessly, so after Mr. Graves left, he took him out and went to the Ministry of Magic.
“I have already talked to Ms. Bones at the honor ceremony.”
He told Milton.
“Go to the Prophecy Hall in the Department of Mysteries and take the prophecy about me.”
