Because they hadn't seen Voldemort appear for a long time, Ryan and their spirits were tense to the extreme. Under such pressure, Dumbledore would even leave Hogwarts on a regular basis to sit on the front line in London, in order to avoid losing too much if no one could withstand Voldemort once the front line was raided by Voldemort.

Also because of Voldemort's threat, Ryan and Hermione were often absent from the manor during this time, and they chose to spend most of their time on the floating fortress ready to reinforce various locations at any time.

In this state of mental tension, the time came in May. At noon on the first day of May, Hermione walked into the observation room of the Core Magic Tower with a silver tray with a plate of salmon sandwiches and a pot of black tea.

After the stone door slid open, Hermione saw Ryan standing on a three-story stone platform in the center of the observation room, on which a crystal ball larger than a human head was quietly suspended in front of him, emitting purple ripples one after another.

The moment the ripples touched the wall, translucent images began to appear on the wall. Hermione recognized the images as coming from the City of London and from the vicinity of Hogsmeade. There were also a lot of footage of what she didn't know where it was.

"Have you had lunch?" Ryan waved his wand lightly after seeing Hermione come in with a plate, and the crystal ball immediately fell slowly, landing on a white stone platform engraved with runes. "I'm really bothering you to bring it here. ”

"It's okay," Hermione smiled as she tapped her wand against the wall, and soon three stone slabs were sticking out of the wall. Forming a rudimentary table top and two seats facing each other, she put down her plate and picked up a sandwich, handing it to Ryan, who had just walked out of the observation room door.

After taking a bite of the sandwich in her hand, Hermione raised her head and asked Ryan, who was sitting opposite her and was drinking black tea, "What are the results of your investigation today, and have you found any changes compared to the other day?"

"There are a lot of things that are different from the previous days. Ryan nodded after putting down the cup of black tea. "For example, the activity of all Death Eaters in the city of London has now dropped to a very low level, and even yesterday Diagon Alley and Tumbledown Alley were abandoned. I saw that the Hogsmeade Ministry of Magic had reoccupied these places this morning. ”

"What about Gringotts?" Hermione asked a crucial question, "Did the Ministry of Magic take over Gringotts this time?" ”

"They've now locked down Gringotts completely. Ryan said what he had seen earlier, "But maybe because of the lack of manpower, they didn't enter Gringotts, but directly blocked Gringotts." But you don't have to worry about the elves, they have a series of complex underground tunnel systems under the bank, and there are even places dedicated to growing mushrooms and certain plants to keep them alive for a long time. ”

"For us, after the war, Gringotts, stripped of its coinage rights and monopoly power, was just an ordinary bank. This medieval-style bank is definitely no match for modern banks. ”

"As for the risk of a goblin rebellion after being stripped of so many rights, that possibility ceases to exist after they bow to Voldemort. For all the intelligent beings in this world, as long as they kneel once, they will continue to kneel for the rest of the time. ”

"In other words, the Death Eaters in London are now hiding in the underground space of the Ministry of Magic and ready to fight us in a final battle. Hermione looked up at Ryan and said.

"Yes, the final battle will certainly be bloody. Ryan nodded. "Because based on yesterday's investigation by the wizards in Diagon Alley, the Death Eaters used their shops to loot a lot of supplies before retreating to the Ministry of Magic, and it seems that they intend to fight a real defensive battle in the Ministry of Magic, not a one-touch collapse like the one now. ”

"Seriously, a place like the Ministry of Magic is a good place for a defensive war. Hermione took a bite of her sandwich and said, "There are only a handful of entrances and exits, and a complicated underground environment, and if I had a rabble with me, I would have chosen that place to defend." At the very least, we can avoid the embarrassment of everyone running away after another war. ”

"You're right. Ryan frowned. "But I still haven't been able to locate the mysterious man, even though I've spread the Heart Tree almost all over the UK, and at the same time control a lot of animals to monitor the land 24 hours a day, which makes me very uneasy. ”

"How could there be no trace at all?" Hermione frowned. "I can understand if the mystery man is alone, but he also has a number of Death Eaters with him, plus a lot of supplies and wealth. It's impossible for so many people to disappear inexplicably. ”

"From the information we received from Headmaster Dumbledore, we can be sure that neither the Mystic nor his men have left England. But we haven't found the exact location yet. Ryan shrugged. "We agreed that there was probably some secret base in Britain that we did not know about, and that he and his lackeys were now preparing a plan for a major attack in the base. ”

"It's—it's very likely!" Hermione said slowly, picking up her teaglass, "just like this floating fortress of ours, which no one but the two of us know about it now, and it's only natural for a dark wizard like the Mysterio, who has been ravaging the side for decades, to have a secret base that is also his own. ”

"So that's why I haven't found him yet. Ryan, who had already finished his sandwich, spread his hand and said. "It's hard to find such a deliberately camouflaged location in such a large area as the British Isles. ”

"But I was prepared for the worst. Ryan stomped his foot lightly as he spoke, and the ground immediately became transparent. Through the ground, Hermione saw one golem after another clumping herself into an ellipsoid, waiting there in rows and rows. "Now that we have stockpiled 3,000 puppets, I plan to prepare 10,000 to ensure that we have a mobile force ready to withstand at all times. ”

"I don't think 3,000 puppets might be enough. Hermione made her point. "It's better to have a little more of these consumables, but I'm worried that there might not be enough of them if there were only 3,000 of them. ”

"Rest assured, I thought of that too. Ryan waved his hand, and a projection of a warehouse immediately appeared in the air, densely packed with armed steam robots more than two people tall, and a large number of sleeping magical plants were arranged on their bodies in addition to steam machine guns. "These purely mechanical creations are not affected by magic, and after my alchemy has been strengthened, they have a certain defense against magical attacks. ”

"While it's true that these machines aren't as useful as the golems and can be easily destroyed by magic, I've prepared 6,000 of them in the folded space below the floating fortress, and when a war really breaks out, they'll be able to buy us enough time and cover if they are mixed with those magic golems. ”

"That's fine, as long as you're prepared. Hermione rubbed the position of her temple, Voldemort has been hiding lately, and the pressure on everyone has been very high, so her expression looked a lot more relaxed after hearing that Ryan was well prepared.

Just as the two of them were about to go and rest for a while after eating, suddenly a prompt sound sounded in the hallway.

"Someone is looking for us at the gate of the manor, who could it be?" Hermione felt a little strange as she looked at the reminder rune floating in the air. "Who would come here at such a time?"