It was a rare occasion for the nymphs to be allowed to perform their enchanting dance, and yet it was suddenly interrupted by a little gremlin, infuriating them to the point of madness.
According to the Ministry of Magic, if a nymph performs the Enchantment Dance to seduce a wizard, it is considered a serious offense. If it leads to consummation, it's punishable by death.
Driven mad with rage, the nymphs transformed from perfect-bodied women into harpy-like creatures—human-headed with eagle bodies—emitting sharp, shrill cries as they swooped toward the gremlins.
The gremlins, however, were not to be outdone. They hurled glowing illusion orbs at the nymphs. Any nymph struck would immediately fall into a terrifying hallucination, rolling and writhing on the ground.
"Looks like they're trapped in a burning illusion,"
Regulus Black observed as he watched the nymphs flail on the ground, patting themselves frantically. Since nearly all birds are vulnerable to fire, it was clear the gremlins' attack had been carefully calculated.
But their fight was doomed from the start. This was, after all, the site of the Quidditch World Cup hosted by wizards—not a battleground for magical creatures. Aurors responsible for maintaining order quickly intervened, separating the two sides and dispelling their illusions.
The Quidditch players from both teams had just been overshadowed by their mascots. But as soon as the illusions vanished, they swiftly showcased high-level flying techniques to regain the spotlight. The audience responded with endless applause.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Good evening! As Minister for Magic, I am honored to declare the final match of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup… officially open!"
Cornelius Fudge's speech was much more concise than that of the average bureaucrat. With a wave of his wand, a burst of light exploded midair over the stadium—this was the starting signal. Players from both teams mounted their rocket crossbows and took their positions.
At the center of the field, the trunk opened on its own. As usual, the Golden Snitch fluttered briefly in front of the Seekers from both teams before vanishing. Then, two Bludgers leapt from the box, shooting off randomly toward nearby players. Lastly, the Quaffle, untouched by any spells, was launched into the air.
In an instant, the match kicked into high speed. Players from both teams darted across the sky.
"It seems both teams have chosen illusion-type magical creatures as their mascots. Makes sense! The Ministry of Magic would never approve of aggressive magical beasts as mascots. Veela and gremlins, huh? Eighty-one Veela and forty-three gremlins—that's quite the number."
At this moment, Regulus Black's eyes glimmered with greed. In his view, these mascots were rare creatures featured in the original story—priceless treasures. Collecting them felt like a sacred mission.
While others were glued to the game, their eyes locked on the players, Regulus Black was slipping through the crowd under an Invisibility Charm. His gaze was fixed on the two groups of mascots now being managed by Aurors. They were still being scolded for their earlier outburst and would soon be returned to their respective teams.
Team logistics would handle their confinement. It wouldn't be wrong to say they'd be locked up.
As Regulus moved, he contemplated how to house them. After all, their combined number exceeded a hundred.
None of his innate abilities included summoning such creatures, but he had built several shrine-type artifacts, which would make suitable containment zones.
[Black Lake Shrine of Soul Elixirs]—scratch that. It was filled with undead and Dementors. Putting the mascots in there would just make them food.
Perhaps a nymph turned undead might still be beautiful, but an undead gremlin likely wouldn't even make it to the lake's shore.
[Scarlet Nightmare Witch Convent]—this one had potential. It could even convert its inhabitants into nightmare demons.
However, that shrine was well-suited for nymphs but not for gremlins.
[Golden Egg of Memory Dragon Secret Realm]—this item had the largest internal space and could even offer job transitions into one of the seven dark classes.
It would suit both nymphs and gremlins, though using it for them felt like an extravagant waste.
And… that was it. Apparently, he had only crafted three shrine-type items!
Making a fourth one just for these forty-three gremlins—say, a [Cornwall Green Pixie's Sacred Lamp]—seemed hardly worth the effort.
Looks like he would have to feed the gremlins to the [Black Lotus Sacred Fire Three-Legged Golden Toad] instead. Who knows what kind of transformation that might bring?
Regulus Black couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed—he truly regretted not having read more when he needed it most. He had crafted many talismanic tools, but among them, only three were temple-type talismans. The range they could cover was still far too limited.
No—more importantly, Regulus Black had a strong preference for beautiful things. Choosing between a Veela and a goblin was an easy decision. Naturally, the talismans he normally crafted leaned toward aesthetically pleasing designs.
Stopping in his tracks, Regulus Black realized he was already standing outside the room where the Veela were being held. From within, he could hear the voices of a group of women cursing the goblins. Clearly, he had just been lost in thought.
The wizard guarding them had left to watch the match, placing only a sealing spell on the door.
Regulus Black easily broke the spell, pushed open the door, and slipped inside.
"Hey, ladies. I'm here to transfer you to another location."
The sudden entrance of a handsome man immediately silenced the Veela, who had been in the midst of cursing the goblins. Their expressions instantly softened with charm, though they restrained themselves from rushing toward him.
"If you're all ready, we'll head out now."
To store sentient creatures in a temple-type talisman, Regulus Black needed them to be compliant. Either they had to be subdued—or they had to enter willingly. Illusions had little effect on Veela, so this time, he resorted to deception.
His question was met with a wave of nods. For these Veela, relocating was no big deal. Even getting a new owner was something they were used to.
Did anyone really think they volunteered to become team mascots? Of course not—they had all been captured and sold.
Regulus Black retrieved a talisman from his system space: the [Red Nightmare Witch Convent].
It took the form of a dead unicorn transformed into a nightmare of the undead type. On its back was a nightmare altar, capable of transforming women into Nightmare Demons, with the potential to evolve from Nightmare Girl to Nightmare Nun, Nightmare Saint, and ultimately to Nightmare Spirit.
The Nightmare Demons could gain one of three bloodline professions: Puppet Dancer, Deceit Warlock, or Wraith Priest.
These corresponded precisely to the three skill branches of necromancers: Summoning, Bone and Poison, and Curses.
The [Red Nightmare Witch Convent] was a semi-automatic talisman. If Regulus Black allowed it to roam freely in a city, it would automatically seek out suitable women and forcibly absorb them into the nightmare altar for transformation.
Now, as soon as the altar-bearing Nightmare Unicorn appeared, it immediately detected 81 suitable candidates in the room.
The Veela were still wondering why he had summoned a unicorn when a flash of red light engulfed them and they were all pulled into the altar.
"Cry all you want, Bulgaria!"
Regulus Black put away the [Red Nightmare Witch Convent] and, with a thought, divided the 81 Veela into three groups, evenly assigned to the three professions.
Without making a sound, he shifted his position and arrived outside the Irish team's locker room. Inside were 43 goblins, left unattended. Unlike the Veela, these creatures had no seductive abilities. They were a subspecies of gnome with whom communication was still possible—ugly, child-sized beings.
Wild goblins loved using illusion magic to conjure fake treasure to trick passersby. This domesticated group, however, had been trained to use their innate illusion talents to produce various visual effects.
But given a wizard's limited imagination, their illusions were mostly used for creating dancing Irish sprites above the stadium.
Without a word, Regulus Black entered the room and immediately unleashed the [Black Lotus Holy Fire Triple-Legged Golden Toad]. The giant toad flicked out its tongue, sweeping across the room. The goblins screamed in panic as they were caught one by one and firmly stuck to the tongue—then swallowed in a single gulp.
In terms of mental strength, Veela still had a chance to resist being absorbed into a temple-type talisman. The goblins, however, had no such luck.
The [Black Lotus Holy Fire Triple-Legged Golden Toad] was overwhelmingly superior in power. No matter how they resisted, it was utterly futile.
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