In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 291: The Cold Snake (2 in 1)

Cold.

This was the only feeling Jon had after entering the ice crater.

The bone-chilling cold seemed to have turned into a materialized white mist that lingered around him.

During the continuous descent, he first used the levitation charm to ease the speed of landing, then tightened the robe on his body, blocking all the exposed skin.

The descent was not long, only about ten seconds passed before his feet touched the solid ice surface.

After landing, the temperature here is not as cold as it was up there, which can not help but let Jon, whose hands and feet were already numb from the cold, breathe a sigh of relief.

He did not stop and hesitate, the next second he landed he immediately started running along the only passage towards the inside.

Although the magic power in the gem still has a lot left, it can not just be endlessly consumed, Jon now entering this labyrinth under the ice does not mean he has reached the final destination, but rather represents the beginning of a fierce challenge!

He could not waste the precious magic in the gem to rush on, so he did not use the fastest way of movement like flying, but only mobilized the magic belonging to himself, reducing the weight of his body, allowing him to run faster and save more strength.

"Up ahead you will encounter a fork in the path, before Gabrielle and I came here we chose the one on the left, but from there we soon encountered another three-way path, and nothing was found in the area beyond, nor did we find the end."

Nick followed Jon's side and spoke fast as he repeated to him what he and Gabrielle had found in the labyrinth earlier.

Jon spoke as he ran.

"Then let's try a different path this time, we don't even know where the right path is in the first place anyway, so let's go to the right this time!"

They kept moving forward, there was no sign of the Death Eaters catching up behind them, but Jon didn't slow down his pace, instead, he picked up the pace even more

He was not blinded by the fact that he had entered the labyrinth that was guarded by so many Death Eaters without a hitch.

Things went a little too far in the right direction, in fact, Jon had two alternative plans for this break-in, but nothing unexpected happened.

The vast majority of the Death Eaters were really attracted by his Patronus, and none of the Death Eaters guarding the entrance managed to stop him, allowing him to burst into the labyrinth with two blasting curses.

This kind of smooth success let Jon feel very abnormal, even if there are many mediocre death eaters, but they can never be so helpless.

They acted like they were just staging a play, in fact, their real purpose was to get him into this labyrinth, not to stop him.

This kind of peculiarity made Jon more sure of one thing.

The main goal of this group of Death Eaters at the North Pole is not to guard this place where Voldemort once came, they are here for him and other students!

If their real purpose was to lure him into this labyrinth, it was inevitable that they wanted to rely on this place to deal with him.

So Jon not only did not relax after entering the labyrinth but became more alert.

After running for nearly half an hour, he finally arrived at the first juncture that Nick said he and Gabrielle had encountered.

Jon did not hesitate and directly ran towards the right side of the path.

Although this path is uncharted and unknown, it is because of the unknowns that there are more possibilities, if he wants to be safer he can follow the path that Nick and Gabrielle took before and revisit it, but then his entry into this labyrinth would be meaningless.

And just as Jon ran through the fork in the path, on the surface of the ice, Bella, whose face was filled with iciness, looked at the Death Eaters who had made all the preparations.

"Now that he's here, this is the last chance our Lord will give you."

Her voice was sharp and cold, not half a semblance of that French Chief Wizard Chancellor Roland could be found in her voice, and even when she looked at her husband Rodolphus, her gaze was not half as different as when she was looking at the other Death Eaters.

"At the same time, I am also relaying the promise made by our lord, no matter who kills or captures that boy, he/she will then become the next French Minister of Magic, and become the substantial power holder of the French magic community!"

Her words made all the Death Eaters' breath become a little rougher the next second.

Everyone is clear that Voldemort personally assuming the French Minister of Magic position is only a temporary expedient measure.

His ambition will certainly not only stay in Britain and France, and even not only in the European continent.

Once he continues to start his next journey, he will definitely step down as the French Minister of Magic and let a reliable crony control and take charge of the land for him.

Unlike Voldemort's lair and home base in Britain, the land of France will not be under his influence and control too much, which means that the next Minister of Magic will have a lot of autonomy.

This also represents a huge benefit that will not fail to move these Death Eaters.

But then Bella's words took another abrupt turn as she looked at everyone with a stern gaze.

"But likewise, if you fail in your mission this time, you should also know what you will face!"

When she finished this sentence, she also gave a deliberate glance to Rodolphus, that gaze was not all that sympathetic and comforting for her husband's painful loss of his own brother, but more of a threat.

Even if the consequences of failure were not explicitly stated, everyone present knew it by heart.

Their lord's greatest disgust is his servants' incompetence, and these Death Eaters led by Rodolphus had already failed once on the sea, and if they failed again in the Arctic ice field, no one will be able to obtain his forgiveness.

So after Bella made the consequences of both success and failure clear, the Death Eaters began their operation.

They were divided into three groups, led by Rodolphus, Bella and another leader. The group led by Rodolphus directly went down on flying brooms using the ice crater that Jon had blown up.

While the other Death Eaters were led by Bella as well as another leader apparated to another entrance and began to enter the labyrinth from a different direction.

After entering the labyrinth, they also began to go deeper and deeper along the labyrinth, and every time they encountered a fork in the road, they would split up into a three-person squad, and eventually, all the Death Eaters broke up into little squads and began to spread out in a web-like structure inside as they advanced down into the labyrinth!

Jon, of course, did not know this.

After the first fork in the path, not long after he encountered a four-way intersection.

He did not hesitate and entangle much and chose a path to continue to go down.

Only before leaving, he used the invisible sword curse to leave a shallow trace on one side of the ice wall based on the logic to explore he made up now.

After feeling that his breathing had begun to become rapid, Jon stopped running, it is only when he actually made it in that he could realize how big this labyrinth really is, just by running blindly like this, it is estimated that he will be exhausted before he reaches the end.

"In fact, I am wondering who in the end has such ability and energy to build such a place in the middle of the Arctic."

Nick voiced his doubts on the way.

Jon was actually also thinking about this issue.

This labyrinth is at the exact point that Grindelwald saw, and estimating the time at which Voldemort had visited this place, implies that it would not have been carved out by him.

And such a big project, Jon didn't feel that Voldemort had the ability and mood to create such a place at that time when he had only disappeared for a month.

This place was likely left by some wizard who came to the North Pole before, and the purpose for which he/she made this labyrinth is most likely the reason why Voldemort came here in the first place.

If you can carve out such a huge labyrinth on the permafrost that does not melt for millions of years, such a wizard can't be some unknown person.

And among those wizards who have become famous in history, none have been known to have come to the North Pole.

"Maybe it's like Ekrizdis who created the Azkaban, if no one found this place, no one in the magic world would know the power of the creator of this labyrinth."

Jon said while walking forward, but the next second, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if he had been hit by a full body-bind curse suddenly and can not move.

Nick and Gabrielle, who were following him, also froze in place, but before they could ask questions, Jon made a silent gesture to them.

With all their movements stopped, vaguely, they heard a faint sound.

The sound was not loud, very small, if Jon did not make them stop talking, basically no one would have noticed such a strange sound.

Nick and Gabrielle both held their breath as the sound grew louder and louder, and closer and closer to them.

Then a thick, long creature crawled out from a corner not far ahead of them!

After seeing the bright green skin and the bucket-like thick and long body, Jon, in a flash, remembered an extremely dangerous magical creature he had seen!

At the first moment he could react, very quickly, he closed his eyes instantly as fast as he could, and then covered Gabrielle's eyes with both hands, while speaking loudly to Nick.

"Do not look at its eyes! Nick!"

However, he did not receive a response from Nick, the sound that came through in addition to the huge creature's movement and the 'hissing' it made, a sound like a hard stone falling on the ground was also heard!

Jon's heart suddenly sank to the bottom, this sound not only confirmed his suspicions but also let him know that his warning has been too late.

Gabriella, whose eyes were covered, acted a little overwhelmed.

"What's wrong, Jon? What's wrong with Nick?"

"Don't be nervous, Nick his fine, but don't open your eyes for a second! Remember, no matter what kind of sound or movement you hear, do not open your eyes, just float upwards, you should remember how high we are now, just float to a meter above the ceiling, wait in the frozen layer of ice, wait for when I let you open your eyes, then open your eyes!"

Jon quickly moved backwards as he gave Gabrielle all the instructions.

Gabrielle was also very obedient, after Jon loosened his hands, she didn't open her eyes, but followed Jon's request to close her eyes tightly, and kept floating upward until she floated to the ice layer before stopping.

After letting Gabrielle hide in a safe place, Jon took a deep breath with his eyes tightly closed.

He forcefully tore off a strip of black cloth from his robe, then calmly covered his eyes completely.

After seeing the body that was so fresh in his mind, and learning that Nick was no longer able to answer his words, Jon knew exactly what he had now encountered.

A Basilisk!

The same kind that he had once killed with a help of a rooster in Hogwarts castle!

A Basilisk that could actually live at the North Pole!

This is a situation that Jon never expected, even if it is a magical creature, but it will also generally follow natural habits.

Even if a creature like a Basilisk is strong, and known as the king of all snakes, it is also a snake.

As long as it is a snake it is bound to have the characteristic of hibernating in a cold environment, in nature, the only snake living in the Arctic is called the European viper (Vipera berus), but even if it lives in the Arctic, there will be up to eight months of hibernation in a year, and the place it lives is still in the Scandinavian Peninsula which is not that cold compared to the North Pole.

In such a cold environment as the labyrinth under the ice, there is surprisingly a snake creature that can move freely, which nobody could have guessed in advance.

But such an accident, although a bit caught Jon off guard, but it has not yet reached the point of panic.

It is not as if he has never seen a basilisk, nor has he ever killed one, right now even without the help of a rooster, the most effective weapon against such creatures, Jon does not have any psychological apprehension.

The rooster is gone, but he's not the same old him from a year or so ago either.

"Confringo!"

He didn't have the slightest scruple, whether it was Nick, who was already suspected of being petrified, or Gabrielle, who was hiding in the layer of ice, the blasting curse couldn't harm either of them.

"Boom!"

The sealed space of the labyrinth caused the blasting curse to produce the kind of loud boom that it wouldn't have on the outside!

Jon could not see the target, he was only casting the spell towards his front, and he did not care whether he could hit the target accurately or not while inflicting damage to it.

Because the goal of the blasting curse itself was not to kill or injure!

The reaction speed of the basilisk was very fast, or the reaction speed of all snakes could be said to be top-notch.

Upon seeing the only target that could pose a threat to it, raising the small wooden stick in his hand, it deftly squirmed and wrapped itself around a raised block of ice above the labyrinth!

After a shake caused by the blasting curse, there was no further damage other than shattering a piece of ice which created fine ice shards all over the ground.

This caused the basilisk that wrapped itself around the ceiling, to stare at Jon with a chilling gaze while shrinking its body like a spring.

Just as it planned to quickly cover the distance with the fastest possible burst speed and swallow Jon directly into its mouth.

Jon waved his wand again, and an incantation that he would use no matter what the situation nowadays rang out from his mouth.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

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