Chapter 230 The Forest In Albania
When Evan emerged from the alley, he couldn't spot the girl.
The main streets of Diagon Alley were filled with festive crowds, cheering, celebrating, sipping warm butterbeer, dancing to Christmas music, and the atmosphere was abuzz with lively sounds and laughter.
Absorbed in the lively scene before him, Evan stood transfixed.
He pondered on the mysterious vampire girl named Elaine, feeling as though he were in an unreal dream. In his mind, he kept replaying what she had just said, about the enigmatic vampire, the forgotten descendants of Slytherin, the destiny at stake, and the perilous prophecy...
Evan let out a deep sigh. He was uncertain of the fate awaiting him.
Returning to the Leaky Cauldron pub, not far from the bustling Diagon Alley, the quiet and shadowy night alley presented a different picture.
Under the pale, dim moonlight, no one could see into the dark and dirty alley, and the worn-out shops on both sides of the street were all dark.
These were all shops of dark magic. In the windows, there were some shrunken heads, dead nails, and similar eerie items on display.
At the street corner, an old wooden sign hung in front of a shop selling poisonous candles, with black letters screwed on it, indicating to passersby that it was a dead end.
In front of the two facades, a large cage was placed at the shop's main entrance, where huge black spiders crawled inside, emitting a strange sound.
Everything there looked unpleasant and nothing resembled Christmas.
Near the entrance to the street, in a dark alcove, lurked a raggedy old witch.
Her yellow eyes gleamed wickedly, undoubtedly observing the street outside, and her incomplete teeth were covered in green moss.
She grinned ominously upon spotting a rare prey.
Not far from her, a girl, dressed in a wide black cloak, with delicate features and a remarkably beautiful face, hurried towards the dead-end alley.
Occasionally, she would raise her head and look around, as if unsure of her whereabouts.
The old witch licked her teeth eagerly. To her, the girl appeared like a lost kitten that had wandered into the alley. She was a good catch.
She opened her mouth and smiled even more sinisterly.
Look at what you've stumbled upon: a lovely Christmas present, her body will make the perfect collection.
Elaine gasped, unaware that someone was watching her in the darkness, and tried to run as far as she could.
She sensed her uncle's scent drawing nearer. She realized she couldn't let him know she had already discussed the family prophecy, and most importantly, she couldn't let him know about Evan's matters, or else...
Just as Elaine pondered on what to do, a voice suddenly reached her ears, startling her.
"Are you lost, dear?"
She saw an old witch standing before her, gazing at her greedily.
Elaine stepped back, and before she could utter a word, a long, narrow, sharp red spell with a triangular tip came flying towards her.
Like a blood-red arrow, it pierced through the old witch's body in front of her.
The old witch's body bore a long gash. Strangely, no blood flowed from the wound.
She screamed loudly, her face contorted in agony.
Elaine looked up in surprise past the fleeing witch. She saw the air swirling up and down like a small tornado.
A middle-aged man, clad in a black wizard's robe with an impassive face, suddenly emerged from the whirl in the air.
"Uncle..." Elaine whispered weakly.
"Elaine, what you have done this time is too scandalous. You ran away to the street of the magicians alone while I was not here, you didn't even think about the consequences. What if someone discovers your identity?" rebuked the middle-aged man, advancing directly.
"I also want to help!" Elaine expressed with some regret, "I want to collaborate with the family to find the person mentioned in the prophecy as soon as possible this time..."
"There have already been some positive clues about it. I have been out all this time checking the news. Recently, he has been seen in the forests of Albania," informed the middle-aged man.
"Forests of Albania?" exclaimed Elaine, "Who would be in that place? Is it the wizard you mentioned before, the one called Voldemort?"
"Exactly, it is him. He is the only descendant of Salazar among the wizards," sighed the middle-aged man when mentioning Voldemort, his face became even darker.
"But..." Elaine hesitated and continued, "Is it possible that it is not him? I mean, maybe we have made a mistake. The person in the prophecy who can help us is not Voldemort. In fact, there is someone else..."
She remembered Evan, who had Slytherin's locket, which also met the requirements of the prophecy. Elaine believed that it was fate that brought them together.
"I also hope it is not him," reflected the middle-aged man, "In any case, it would be extremely foolish to collaborate with the most evil dark wizard in history. If we do, it will probably lead to our end and he would not be willing to help us. But for now, Voldemort is the only one, and I just want him to take a look at Slytherin..."
"Uncle, this time I found one..." Upon hearing that Voldemort was the chosen one, Elaine hurried to explain to her uncle about Evan.
However, she hesitated immediately. Although Evan met the conditions of the prophecy, he was weak, too weak even to overcome it.
In Elaine's opinion, getting Evan to enter the place was akin to seeking his death.
"What have you found?" The middle-aged man looked at Elaine with puzzlement.
"No, nothing, I just found that the wizarding streets were livelier, more intriguing than home; I want to go to Hogwarts to study. I received the admission letter last year, why won't you let me go?" Elaine hastened to say.
She decided to keep Evan's matter a secret and, on her own, go to Hogwarts to find him to turn him into a vampire through the First Embrace.
This way, Evan's strength should increase.
"Hogwarts?" the middle-aged man snorted and flatly rejected it. "I've said it many times. This matter is not up for discussion. Our identity is a taboo in the outside world. If you let other wizards know, they will definitely kill you."
"But..." Elaine argued that when Evan found out she was a vampire, he didn't seem very surprised.
"But nothing! Don't leave these days and practice the magic I taught you at home," he said as he approached and took Elaine. "We must be ready to go to the forests of Albania to find Voldemort and try to contact him. Whatever the future holds, it's a fate from which the family cannot escape."
There was a slight noise, they Apparated and vanished, and silence once again reigned in the deserted streets of Knockturn Alley.