Rita Skeeter had never been more grateful for learning Animagus transformation.
She lay on the ground, rested for a few minutes, and vaguely heard the sound of chaotic footsteps and barking dogs.
Rita grabbed her wand, but she still couldn't use magic properly. In the last moment, the world in her vision suddenly expanded hundreds of times.
She transformed into a beetle.
Animagus—the special magic that allows transformation without a wand—was something Rita once thought was only useful for eavesdropping. But at this moment, it once again saved her life.
Trembling, she hid under a leaf and watched as a dozen hunting dogs sniffed around the jungle. they growled but failed to find any trace of her.
The black-clad soldiers held dangerous Muggle weapons as they searched the forest. After a while, one of them pressed a hand to his ear and said, "The woman has disappeared."
A moment later, he told the others, "Keep searching. In half an hour, they'll activate the field again."
"Understood!"
The group responded in unison and dispersed.
They searched every tree canopy and bush, but none of them noticed the tiny beetle.
Rita was terrified, and her heart was pounding wildly. She forced her six trembling legs to crawl carefully through the grass for a while before flapping her wings and taking flight.
A black hunting dog suddenly lifted its head and stared at the plump beetle and sniffed the air.
Rita nearly dropped from the sky in fear. She barely steadied herself and frantically flapped her wings to fly forward, but at her speed of only about 2 m/s, a single pounce from the dog could easily catch her.
Every moment, she felt as if death was breathing down her neck.
Fortunately, a black-clad soldier suddenly pulled back the dog. "Alright, buddy, nothing interesting about bugs. Come this way."
The dog glanced at the beetle again but then turned to follow its master in another direction.
Rita let out a sigh of relief and flew even more desperately.
She knew she had, at most, half an hour.
However, when she finally saw the vast, holy-looking white buildings gleaming under the sunlight, she realized in despair that she had gone in the wrong direction.
It was too late to turn back now. Gritting her teeth, Rita flew over the wall and went inside.
No matter the place, there were always sewer pipes and ventilation ducts.
She squeezed in through a dark crevice, ignored the putrid smell around her, and found a dry spot to lie down while panting heavily.
Even in her Animagus form, such intense movement had drained a huge amount of her energy.
Half an Hour Later
As expected, the buzzing sound arrived on time. The magic that usually felt like an extension of her own body suddenly surged uncontrollably. Rita let out a wail as she was forced back into her human form. She bit her lip to endure the pain.
She tasted blood.
This time, the buzzing lasted longer than before. However, perhaps the pipes provided some form of protection, as the pain was slightly more bearable than last time.
And then, the escape began once again.
She stumbled forward through the pipes, the enclosed, dark environment around her was eerily silent and yet it offered a strange sense of security.
Rita pulled out her wand and whispered, "Lumos."
A faint light illuminated the tunnel, casting its glow on her disheveled figure.
She let out a breath of relief—at least simple spells like this still worked.
Biting her wand between her teeth, she crawled forward through the pipe. Turning into a beetle would have been more covert, but she was exhausted and starving.
In her insect form, her body only wanted to succumb to instinct and remain still, while her human form, at least, could move forward under sheer willpower.
The ground was covered in dust, along with the corpses of insects and rats.
An ordinary woman might have screamed at the sight of dead rodents, but for a witch accustomed to brewing potions with frog brains, leeches, and cockroaches, such things weren't worth her attention.
She crawled through the filthy pipe, having no idea where she was headed, but the sense of crisis kept her from stopping.
Rita, who knew almost nothing about Muggle technology, failed to notice what the slight downward slope of the pipe meant as she moved forward.
…
Inside the Laboratory, a row of green lights lit up one after another. On a nearby screen, a specific area started flashing with an alarm.
"The pressure sensor in the ventilation duct has been triggered—judging by the intensity, it's not just a rat," a man reported in a neutral tone.
"Send in a scorpion bot." A man with a ponytail smirked.
"I installed the sensors after watching movies where the protagonist always escapes through ventilation ducts. They used to only kill a few dumb rats, but today, it seems we've finally caught something interesting."
A woman in red chuckled. "Did we catch a magic-wielding rat?"
"Hmm… a rather bold one."
…
A strange buzzing sound echoed through the pipe, making Rita Skeeter's hair stand on end.
She almost had a panic attack—but then she realized that it wasn't the same bizarre noise that disrupted magic.
Instead, it was a small, scorpion-shaped toy car.
The toy car, shaped like a scorpion, carried a cylindrical device on its back and rolled right up to her, and its front was emitting a blinding light.
Rita blinked in surprise before instinctively pointing her wand. "Reducto!"
With a loud bang, the toy car exploded into scattered pieces, sending the cylinder rolling to her feet.
Suddenly, it began releasing a cloud of white gas.
Rita inhaled just once and immediately felt dizzy and weak.
She held her breath and quickly moved away, her hands trembled slightly as she rummaged through her crocodile-skin handbag.
When she fled Britain, she had packed plenty of essentials—including, of course, an antidote potion.
Pulling out a vial, she yanked the stopper off and downed the potion in one gulp.
Her mind instantly cleared.
Without hesitation, she pulled out her Invisibility Cloak and draped it over herself.
Rita believed that Muggle technology had yet to develop the ability to see through a wizard's invisibility.
But she was too exhausted to flee any farther.
Digging into her bag, she pulled out a few pieces of chocolate and devoured them hungrily, then downed a bottle of honey mead. Only then did she feel somewhat alive again.
—How much of the half-hour has passed?
Just as Rita was about to check the time, she suddenly heard the buzzing sound again.
This time, it came from both ends of the pipe.
A dozen mechanical vehicles were closing in on her with precision. Some of them even had gun barrels adjusting their angles—one of the few Muggle weapons Rita actually recognized.
She was shocked—I am wearing my Invisibility Cloak, so how are these damned machines still able to track me?
"Boom—!"
The explosion echoed far and wide through the pipes—so far that even the prisoners in the underground cells heard the commotion. They looked up in confusion, having no idea what had just happened.
…
A few minutes later, several items lay before the man with the ponytail—
A torn, bloodstained coat.
A pair of dragon-hide women's boots with the soles blown off.
And a damaged Invisibility Cloak.
Once ruined, the cloak lost its invisibility, appearing now as nothing more than a simple gray beast-hide cloak.
On the large screen, a short video played—
The scorpion-shaped machines swarmed toward an apparently empty space. Just as they awaited the attack command, a sudden burst of bright light erupted from the center of their formation.
An invisible force instantly shredded several of the mechanical units, and then the screen turned to static.
The technicians adjusted the footage and paused on the last frame. In the hazy image, a faint glimpse of a figure in green could be seen.
The man with a ponytail let out a laugh of exasperation. "Why can't these wizards just give up? Why do they always have to struggle to the bitter end?"
No one around him responded.
"Turn on the magnetic field," he ordered coldly. "I refuse to believe she can survive this many times."
"The magnets haven't finished cooling yet," the man with glasses reminded him softly. "We'll need about ten more minutes—otherwise, we risk burning out the equipment."
The man with a ponytail snapped, "I told them ages ago that those damn bit plates needed replacing! But the higher-ups would rather spend money to find women than invest in the immortality project. Sooner or later, they'll pay the price for their stupidity."
"Don't be mad," the woman in red said nonchalantly. "That little rat isn't getting out. Besides, this gives you a perfect excuse to request more funding."
"You're right." His anger faded as quickly as it had come. With a calmer tone, he said, "Fine. We'll do it again in ten minutes."
"No, wait twenty more minutes," the woman in red said. "Wouldn't it be much more interesting to strike her down just when she thinks she's safe?"
…
Rita cowered anxiously in the pipes, expecting another wave of invisible torment—but it never came.
She waited another minute, then finally lost her patience and scurried out from her hiding place.
Having recovered some of her strength, Rita had once again taken her Animagus form as a beetle. At this moment, only this shape made her feel truly safe.
She crawled forward along the pipe, occasionally peeking through the grates to check where she had ended up.
She saw all kinds of strange instruments, owls being held captive for research, busy scientists, cluttered storage rooms, and warehouses packed with shelves stacked high with goods.
When she spotted a pile of counterfeit Book of Friends on one of the racks, Rita suddenly stopped. She hesitated and paced back and forth, but was unable to shake the thought in her mind.
If she had to name her biggest regret from this entire ordeal, it would be leaving behind the Book of Friends she used to contact Wade Grey in Britain.
Her reasoning at the time was simple—she had failed to complete Wade Grey's request and was worried he might take back the Invisibility Cloak. So, she had cut off contact with him on her own accord.
She knew that some Book of Friends had tracking features, and fearing that Wade Grey's might be one of them, she had left it at home before fleeing.
Rita actually had a stack of Book of Friends in her bag—but she had no real friends. Every contact in those books was either someone she had blackmail material on or a superficial work acquaintance.
She was well aware that while these so-called "friends" could help her gather information and pull some strings, none of them would be willing or capable of rescuing her.
Wade Grey is just a child—he may not be able to help either.
But behind Wade Grey is Dumbledore.
No matter how much Rita Skeeter slandered and belittled Albus Dumbledore as a senile old madman, deep down, she knew the truth: He is the only person who will lend a hand to strangers—even to his enemies.
In this place, the only person who could possibly save her was Albus Dumbledore.
Yet she had thrown away the only way to contact him.
Regret gnawed at her like a worm burrowing into her heart. Rita hesitated for a moment—then suddenly pulled a small but incredibly valuable vial of potion from her bag.
It was golden in color, shimmering like molten gold, its light shifted beautifully as the liquid moved inside the bottle.
This was Felix Felicis—Liquid Luck—a potion that grants unparalleled luck to those who drink it.
It was an extremely rare and extremely expensive potion.
Rita had only managed to acquire this tiny bit by sheer luck, and its effects would only last for about an hour—she had always been reluctant to use it.
Now, without hesitation, Rita tilted her head back and drank it all.
The moment it slid down her throat, she closed her eyes.
A surge of unstoppable confidence spread through her body.
Her thoughts became razor-sharp.
Her magic flowed powerfully and smoothly.
It felt as if she could do anything.
No... not everything.
Rita opened her eyes.
Her gaze was crystal clear, utterly devoid of panic or exhaustion.
She now understood—she would not be able to escape this place within an hour.
She didn't even fully understand where she was—or whether there were even any normal civilians nearby.
—But that doesn't mean there is no solution.
A strange sense of confidence and intuition urged her to act immediately.
She transformed back into a beetle at once, squeezed through the bars, and dropped into the warehouse.
The warehouse manager happened to turn away, and was busy arranging items on the shelves, completely unaware that an uninvited guest had just entered his domain.
Rita swiftly stole two counterfeit Book of Friends, then hid her crocodile leather handbag in the deepest corner of the lowest shelf and took only a few bottles of potion and stuffing them into her pockets.
—The rest of the items in her handbag were now useless to her, but the interview notes inside were a treasure she had accumulated over the years. If she lost them, she would be absolutely devastated.
Next, Rita cast a small Levitation Charm and carefully guided the counterfeit Book of Friends through the bars and into the ventilation duct. Before the warehouse manager could turn around, she transformed into a beetle again and flew away.
This time, carrying the Book of Friends, she returned to the room where the owls were kept.
Luckily, there was no one inside.
Of course, Rita thought confidently. Luck is on my side now!
The security around the animals was much looser—the owls were kept in ordinary cages, and a simple Unlocking Charm was enough to set them free.
Her instincts led her to choose the weakest-looking owl. She carefully rolled up one of the Book of Friends, tied it to the owl's claw, and looked into its eyes.
The owl gazed back at her silently.
Rita wrote down Wade Grey's name and address, then lowered her head and gently pressed her forehead against the owl's head.
"Please... you have to deliver this letter."
The owl cooed twice, as if agreeing.
"Alohomora!"
More than a dozen owls took off instantly, their wings flapped wildly as they squeezed through the narrow window and they soared back to the freedom of the sky.
A sudden commotion erupted outside.
Rita Skeeter transformed back into a beetle, just in time to land on the back of a hairy-legged fishing owl and escaped through the window with it.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
The fishing owl let out a mournful cry and plummeted to the ground with a heavy thud. Blood and feathers splattered in all directions, while a tiny beetle scurried desperately toward a crack in the wall.
The moment she found a hiding spot, the buzzing noise started again.
In the silent struggle, Rita's eyes widened and she witnessed the horrifying sight of owls being shot down mid-air. Their bodies were riddled with bullets as they fell like raindrops from the sky.
But the weakest owl—the one carrying Rita Skeeter's desperate hope—was different.
It darted nimbly through the chaos, dodging the bullets, flying farther and farther away.
The buzzing sound had no effect on it, but if Rita had tried to escape on its back, they both would have fallen like kites with broken strings.
In the midst of excruciating torment, she revealed a twisted smile.
As soon as the agonizing ordeal passed, Rita sprang to her feet without hesitation and following the guidance of the potion she crawled deeper underground.
The air grew increasingly foul, and she began to see rows of narrow prison cells—inside them were many children, their faces shockingly young...
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A little explanation:
About the scorching hot stream being discharged in sea—the water being discharged was simply cooling water, as mentioned in the text, and it flowed through the pipeline.
Water-cooled magnets are one of the earliest types of magnet technology used by scientists. In 1996, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in the United States increased the field strength of a water-cooled magnet to 33T. However, the magnetic field in the story does not need to be that strong.
Also, it's not a single, massive magnetic field covering the entire island. Instead, the magnetic nodes are scattered across the area—like sesame seeds sprinkled on a cake, forming a distributed array with resonance at the same frequency.
Moreover, water-cooled magnetic fields can theoretically sustain high-intensity operation for extended periods. But in this story, to increase the coverage area, the duration has been shortened, allowing the field to be activated for only one to three minutes at a time.
Since the author's knowledge of physics is limited, a more detailed setup is beyond reach. If there are scientific inaccuracies, consider them as part of the magical world's unique physics.
…
Did the Muggle government participate in this? If they knew, why didn't the Ministry of Magic find out?
First, in peacetime, the Ministry of Magic and Muggle governments do not maintain close communication. Their interaction is usually limited to situations like Fudge occasionally popping up to say,
"We have a dragon crossing your border—prepare accordingly."
Second, not every Muggle government has absolute control over its own country.
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