Over the next few days, Elara received the payment for the half-month of hard work she had put into translating—500 pounds.
She also bought a few pieces of clothing that leaned more towards Muggle styles.
Several brightly colored items, mostly in vibrant patterns, made her look like a vivacious young girl, attempting to neutralize the rather lifeless aura that clung to Elara, even if wizards didn’t seem to appreciate it much.
She felt that wizards’ robes didn’t look like something a good person would wear.
Elara changed into an electric blue, loose-fitting thin sweatshirt, the cut slightly oversized, hanging loosely over her thin shoulders and covering her slender waist.
She paired it with bright magenta skinny pants that clung to her slender legs—a vibrant, popping color that was intense and flamboyant.
The intense colors only made her appear more like a porcelain doll.
Tom couldn’t help but fall silent when he saw her: “Elara, do you like wearing such bright clothes?”
“Yes, I like bright colors.” Her time as a Dementor had made her sick of monotonous colors.
So, as soon as she got the money, she bought herself an outfit in the most popular style of the moment.
“This is the most popular style right now,” Elara emphasized.
“Wizards’ robes are too strange in the library.
By the way, I’m going out for a stroll; remember to feed Fafnir for me.”
Tom was silent.
He wanted to say: “Don’t you think you don’t really suit this Muggle fashion style?”
But, since Elara liked it, he would just let her be.
“I will certainly remember.
However, I heard you earned some money; you should exchange some at Gringotts for Galleons and buy some new clothes.
Also, don’t come back so late every day,” Tom suggested tactfully.
Elara certainly knew it was a bit jarring.
What she wanted to slowly strip away was this overly cold temperament, which made her look like she wasn’t a good person.
She planned to slowly change her persona through changes in her attire.
As a villain, she naturally tried to cooperate with normal, good people—even villains didn’t want to cooperate with other villains.
Over the past few days, Elara had also been cultivating the image of a normal girl obsessed with new clothes, a young girl who occasionally went out shopping.
Naturally, they didn’t notice that she had secretly run to the suburbs several times—not just to observe the movements of the Crouch family, but also to transport all the arms from that box to downtown London.
For her, as a Dementor, this was as easy as taking something out of her pocket.
Under the tide of deindustrialization in the UK, there were many vacant houses in London.
She only needed to find an empty house to hide these things.
She would just wander around in her Dementor form, scare a few people, and the occasional gang members wouldn’t even dare to come near.
And the wizards naturally turned a blind eye to such behavior.
Now, Dementors were deployed at key transportation hubs in London.
Elara assembled the TNT and detonators, and installed the fuses.
A Beretta 92F was the main weapon for this operation.
She really couldn’t handle those two AKs; her Strength of 8 could barely control a handgun.
Elara had gradually figured out the Crouch family’s movements.
First, Barty Crouch Sr.
left the house at 8:00 AM every morning and returned at 5:00 PM.
He basically wouldn’t go out suddenly now, and the several days of overtime had left the iron-willed Department Head exhausted, yet he still worked diligently.
It seemed this fallen Department Head still intended to use this opportunity to advance further.
And even during the day, Winky did not come out.
Elara felt that the Crouch family’s wall could be dealt with using explosives, but it was hard to figure out the specific situation inside the mansion.
For the past few days, she had been hovering in the afternoons at an altitude that allowed the House-elf inside to notice her, circling for a while.
She had also tested her firearms, and the bullets could basically shoot into the courtyard without obstruction.
While observing, she tried to see if she could elicit cooperation from Barty Crouch Jr.
The meticulously trimmed vegetation below had already started to lose its shape.
Elara knew Winky couldn’t wait much longer.
On a beautiful, breezy Sunday afternoon, Elara finally waited for Winky to come out.
Because a Dementor had been visiting during the day for the past few days, the House-elf Winky had been forced to keep the young master inside.
Barty Crouch Jr., with his straw-colored hair, was wearing an invisibility cloak even inside the house.
Hearing Winky’s complaints, his dull gaze became a bit more lively.
He gasped and wrote down a line: “Winky, let me go out and see the sunshine.”
Barty Crouch Jr.
was controlled by Barty Crouch Sr.
with the Imperio and couldn’t speak, so he couldn’t directly command Winky.
Unless he used his willpower to break free from the control of the Imperio.
Winky, however, was trembling as she tried to refuse: “Old Master said that you must not be allowed to go out during this time.”
She curled into a ball, covering her eyes, not daring to look at her young master.
“Please, Winky.
I’ll just watch for a while at the door, and you can tidy up the yard.
I haven’t seen the view outside for a long time.” Barty Crouch Jr.’s trembling hand wrote these words.
Winky was trembling violently.
Her heart softened.
Her young master had said “please” to her; what right did she have to make the young master beg?
Perhaps this was a good start, meaning the young master was willing to soften his attitude and eventually bow to the master.
“Then you just watch at the door, don’t come out, otherwise you will be discovered by that Dementor.”
Under the invisibility cloak, Barty Crouch Jr.
sneered.
He was certain that there were no Dementor patrols during the day.
So the appearance of this Dementor was very strange.
He was going to take a gamble.
Winky walked out of the house; she needed to take care of her young master every step of the way.
She was happy to see that the young master was not trying to escape—though it would be futile anyway—but was staying obediently at the door.
Barty Crouch Jr.
didn’t make any excessive movements; he suddenly said: “That Dementor is gone, right?”
Winky, who was busy pruning the garden and muttering to herself, also looked up at the sky.
“Really, that Dementor is gone.” Winky was mainly worried that her young master would be discovered and then taken away.
Barty Crouch Jr.
revealed a neurotic smile.
Elara finally managed to wait for Winky, who was always inseparable from Barty Crouch Jr., to come out.
Although she couldn’t sense whether Barty Crouch Jr.
was by her side, she believed that Winky would not let him out of her sight.
After Elara confirmed this, she hesitated no longer.
She targeted the wall closest to Winky and installed the TNT on it.
Then she lit the fuse.
A huge roar echoed throughout the entire wealthy community.
The huge stone wall was blown open directly, and the Crouch family crest on it was blown to smithereens.
No matter what defensive measures had been placed here before, a hole had now been physically blown open.
With the foundation gone, everything else was meaningless.
Modern TNT had blown a hole in the impregnable Crouch family residence.
She didn’t choose the most solid door.
When the door is at its most impenetrable, the wall becomes the door.
Elara didn’t wait for the huge cloud of dust to dissipate; she charged directly into the opening.
Now, no matter what magical defensive measures had been left here before, they were all gone.
The moment Elara rushed in, she saw Winky knocked to the ground by the massive shockwave.
At this moment, Winky was struggling to get up, looking around in a panic to find her young master.
Elara didn’t hesitate; she pounced forward while firing several shots at Winky, aiming for her legs.
Luckily, one shot hit Winky’s foot, causing her to stumble and interrupting her spellcasting against Elara.
Now that her young master was here, she wouldn’t run away.
And Elara had already detected Barty Crouch Jr.’s location—not far from Winky, currently struggling to get away from her.
Barty Crouch Jr.
also wanted to escape.
However, a House-elf’s spellcasting ability definitely counted as that of a normal wizard.
Now, Elara aimed her gun at Barty Crouch Jr.
and communicated directly with Winky’s consciousness: “Don’t move now, or I will kill Barty Crouch Jr.”
Winky was instantly at a loss, covering her ears, her body trembling: “Don’t…
don’t kill the young master…
I surrender…
don’t hurt the young master…”
Winky dared not move again.
Elara went straight past Winky, who was at a loss and muttering “Winky is useless, Winky is useless,” and tore off Barty Crouch Jr.’s invisibility cloak.
The extremely pale, gaunt Barty Crouch Jr.
was thus exposed to the sunlight, as sluggish as an old man nearing death.
His hollow, numb eyes were at their most intense at this moment, but Elara saw that constantly struggling will—although it was a fanaticism for Lord Voldemort, it was still an extremely stubborn will.
Elara decided to give him a helping hand.
She directly transmitted her consciousness to Barty Crouch Jr.: “Barty Crouch Jr., are you still loyal to the great Dark Lord?”
Under the interrogation brought by Elara and the pressure from the Dementor, Barty Crouch Jr.
shook off the control of the Imperio.
The fanaticism and resentment suppressed for many years briefly broke through the shackles.
He struggled to speak: “I am forever loyal to the Dark Lord.”
Elara was very satisfied that Barty Crouch Jr.
was gradually shaking off the effects of the Imperio.
Like a devil, she enticed him: “Now, let your servant take you away from here and head to Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey.
Don’t act rashly; Dumbledore’s people are monitoring the place.
The Dark Lord will give you the next instructions.”
Barty Crouch Jr.
looked at the Dementor in front of him with a neurotic suspicion.
“Who are you?”
“I am, of course, a servant of the Dark Lord.
Now the Dark Lord needs you.
You will understand when you arrive at Privet Drive.
But don’t do too much—the Dark Lord’s enemy, Harry Potter, lives there, and the Dark Lord needs you to investigate him.
Remember not to make any other moves; Dumbledore has left terrifying magic to protect Harry Potter.”
Barty Crouch Jr.
was drawn in by Elara’s news.
“Good.” The dizzy Barty Crouch Jr.
could not judge the truth, but the fact that she could save him was attributed by him to the omniscient power of the Dark Lord.
“We must go; your father is coming.
For the resurrection of the great Dark Lord!” Elara left this sentence behind.
“For the resurrection of the great Dark Lord!” Barty Crouch Jr.
shouted back at the top of his lungs.
After giving simple instructions, Elara returned the way she came.
And Barty Crouch Jr.
naturally commanded the trembling Winky.
“Take me away from here.
Winky!”
An unquestionable command.
Winky wanted to persuade Barty Crouch Jr.
not to escape.
However, Barty Crouch Jr.
just said: “Winky, I am your master.
Now, take me away.”
Winky tremblingly reached out and took Barty Crouch Jr.
away from here.
Elara floated in the air, watching the direction in which Winky and Barty Crouch Jr.
had Disapparated.
“For the resurrection of the Dark Lord?” She laughed silently, “Does that thing even deserve it?”
Barty Crouch Jr.
was a sharp enough knife.
Once she got what she wanted, she would break the knife.
To avoid any complications.
A few minutes later, Barty Crouch Sr.
arrived late.
Barty Crouch Sr.
stood on the shattered family crest, his face livid.
The ruins of the wall were still smoking, and there was no one in the courtyard, nor in the mansion—no Winky, no son, only a few drops of dark red blood on the ground.
He shouted at the top of his lungs for Winky to come out, but there was no response.
He tremblingly drew his wand and cast a tracking spell, but found nothing.
“Barty—” he whispered, but he had to pull himself together to deal with the swarming Aurors.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”