Chapter 476 Copper Can Detoxify
The lake water did not boil under the scorching of the five fireballs as Roger expected, and even local bubbles did not appear.
They sank into the lake like five heavy stones, wrapped in layers of the dark green lake water, and finally gradually lost their temperature. Many corpses were shattered under the impact of the fireballs, and the debris flew. They fell one by one, one by one, one by one...
At the same time, the water column stirred up by the explosion rushed straight to the top of the cave like a volcanic eruption. The water flow carried the pale corpses and broken limbs, like a cruel rain of flowers, falling one after another.
Dumbledore frowned and reminded everyone in a serious tone: "Be careful, don't touch these lake waters." As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly drew out his wand and released a powerful beam of magic.
"Many obstacles! (Flames are blazing!)"
Almost at the same time, Roger also raised his wand and pointed it forward. The tip of the Kirin Wand immediately spurted out a fan-shaped flame that rolled like a sea wave, sweeping everything forward.
The temperature of the cold cave rose suddenly, and the darkness around was swept away by the waves of fire. The dark green water column in the sky was also swallowed by the flames and turned into rolling white mist.
Harry looked at the red cave in surprise, and felt that his wet clothes were drying quickly. White crystals of sea salt began to appear on his shoes, pants, coat, and even hair, flashing the red light of the flame.
Hiss... Hiss...
The flames rolled on the lake, and wherever they passed, the surface water was like grease on hot iron, making a harsh hissing sound. The corpses at the bottom of the lake felt the heat of the flames above and dived into the deeper shadows. In an instant, the surface of the Black Lake changed from dark green to clear, and it no longer looked disgusting.
"What is that?" Harry pointed at the shattered remains on the lake, and said with some discomfort in his voice: "This sound... sounds disgusting, like..." He paused, unable to think of how to describe the feeling in his heart.
Moody took over the conversation, his tone was flat and true: "Like the sound of a body burning in a furnace."
His description was too vivid, and coupled with the sizzling sound that drilled straight into his brain, Harry felt his whole stomach rolling. Once he connected the sound with the picture, the scene of a charred body and burning oil immediately emerged in his mind.
Lupin gently patted Harry's shoulder, trying to comfort him: "Those at the bottom of the lake are Inferi, a product of black magic."
He pointed to the vaguely visible white ghost under the water, and explained this dark creature to Harry just like in the classroom at Hogwarts: "Their biggest characteristics are: rotten appearance, pale skin, and empty eyes. Like Dementors, they are full of the breath of death."
"Dementors?" Harry subconsciously raised his voice. He had met Dementors face to face, and that was not a good memory.
Rogge put down his arm and turned to apologize sincerely to everyone: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect these lakes to be poisonous."
"You guy!" Sirius snorted coldly, with a reproachful tone in his tone: "Do you know that you almost killed us? If you destroy my brother's body, I will never let you go!"
"And, if those Inferi crawl up..." There was a hint of worry in his tone.
"They won't come up." Dumbledore interrupted Sirius softly, his eyes gently falling on Roger.
He didn't blame too much, but with a kind of tolerance and understanding. It is normal for young wizards to make mistakes. As the headmaster, his duty is to guide them to learn and grow at this moment.
"Professor Lupin is right. They are servants created by Voldemort using dark magic. Compared with Dementors, they are strong but slow in action, have no thoughts, and only act according to the orders of their masters." Dumbledore smiled slightly, and didn't seem to care about the underwater corpses. His calmness and confidence brought a little comfort to everyone.
He looked around and continued, "I guess Voldemort's order to these corpses is to guard the things in the center of the lake. Only in this way will they not come out at will."
"Moreover, the corpses have a great fear of fire. Once touched by fire, they will instantly turn into ashes." Dumbledore pointed out the fatal weakness of the corpses.
"Like the things on the lake just now?" Harry responded quickly, pointing his finger at the lake, which was quickly regaining its dark green color.
"What...what happened?"
Rogge pondered for a while, then guessed: "The entire Black Lake is actually a huge corpse breeding ground, which was shaped into an indivisible whole by Voldemort. Simply put, to break the spell he left behind, all the lake water must be disposed of at once."
He finally understood why his fireball just now had no effect. Compared with the depth and breadth of the Black Lake, the power of five fireballs seemed insignificant. Unless, he ignored Regulus's body and directly boiled the entire Black Lake with hundreds of fireballs. But if he really did that, Sirius would definitely fight him to death.
Rogge explained softly: "If my guess is correct, the dark green color of the lake water is because of the corpses at the bottom of the lake. Their bodies are soaked in death and venom, turning the entire Black Lake into a pool of poisonous water."
After hearing this, everyone immediately understood Dumbledore's intention to remind them not to touch the lake water.
The headmaster nodded slightly, indicating that he fully agreed with Roger's speculation. Voldemort placed the Horcrux here, thinking it was very safe. If his servants used the Horcrux to resurrect him, the Inferi at the bottom of the lake would become Voldemort's most loyal subordinates after his resurrection.
Harry curled his lips and had some small opinions about Roger's talkative appearance. He subconsciously thought of Miss Know-it-all from the same college, Granger, who also liked to show off her knowledge in public.
He glanced to the side and noticed the pile of chains at Roger's feet. Although Harry felt a little gloating in his heart, he immediately reminded: "Professor, Roger just touched the lake water. The pile of chains was pulled out from underwater."
Roger was startled and quickly spread his hands to check if there were any signs of corpse poison. Seeing that the color of his palms was normal, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Huh, I was shocked."
Dumbledore seemed to have expected that nothing would happen. He said in a gentle tone: "If you look carefully, you will find that the chain is made of copper. This is the knowledge of alchemy, which you will learn in the sixth and seventh grades."
Rogge's brain immediately worked quickly, recalling the knowledge about alchemy. He looked at Dumbledore and asked in a tone of inquiry: "Headmaster, this is because copper represents positive power in alchemy, right?"
Dumbledore nodded slightly, and seeing that others also showed curious expressions, he decided to explain: "Rogge is right. Copper symbolizes positive power in alchemy, that is, the sun. And the sun represents the most primitive and hottest flame."
"I just said that the corpses are most afraid of fire." He smiled and continued: "Even the torches lit by Muggles can disperse them or even kill them."
Harry's eyes lit up and whispered: "So, the lake water on those copper chains was purified by it?"
"You are very smart, Harry." Dumbledore affirmed Harry's answer, "The positive power of the copper chain effectively neutralized the toxicity of the lake water."
He looked around, his eyes fell on everyone's face, and his tone became serious and profound: "Remember, magic and alchemy are inseparable. Items that seem harmless to wizards may become deadly weapons in the hands of alchemists."
"This is a profound art that requires life to learn, but it also breeds great power." Dumbledore paused, his eyes especially stayed on Harry, and continued with a smile: "For example, the Philosopher's Stone. It is the masterpiece of alchemists and can create elixirs of immortality. However, the eternity of life is not without cost, it will bring endless pain."
"We must be wary of death, but we must also welcome it with a calm mind." As a wise man over a hundred years old, when he said this, every word was full of speculation and philosophy.
But others are still young, and death is still a distant and vague concept for everyone. Even Moody, who has retired, does not want to meet death so soon.
After a brief silence, Dawlish directly asked the question: "Mr. Dumbledore, if we want to salvage Regulus's body, do we have to send someone to dive to the bottom of the lake?"
Sirius immediately stood up and patted his chest without hesitation and said: "I can go down..."
However, Roger interrupted him and proposed a completely different plan: "We can drill through the top of the cave, and then use the blazing flames to burn the entire lake dry."
The wand in his hand flashed red light, and the strong magic reserve in his body could fully support such consumption. If Dumbledore agreed to this plan, they could complete the task faster.
"It's all sea water outside. If we drill through the top of the cave, the sea water will flow back directly. Unless..." Moody's magic eye scanned everything around, even the ground under his feet.
Roger hated guys who left half of their words, and asked impatiently: "Unless what?"
"Unless the tide is low now." His magic eye turned around and stared at Roger's head, as if asking him if he could do it?
Roger curled his lips. He was not a gravity force that could change the orbit of the moon. If his magic power was strong enough to affect the satellite, he would have pulled out Regulus's body long ago.
Moody deliberately embarrassed Roger to retaliate against him for mocking his artificial leg. He waited for a few seconds before speaking: "My magic eye can help you find Regulus's body."
His words immediately attracted everyone's attention. Sirius grabbed his sleeve excitedly and asked eagerly about the specific location.
"No, we are too far from the center of the lake, and there are too many Inferi underwater." Moody pointed to the boat on the shore and proposed his plan: "We must reach the center of the lake first, find him, and then consider ways to salvage him."
Dawlish opened his mouth, feeling a little uneasy: "If the entire bottom of the lake is full of Inferi, once they riot, can we still escape?" But when his eyes fell on Dumbledore, he was immediately given a courage multiplier buff.
Everyone quickly reached a consensus, and Roger no longer insisted on his plan to burn the lake dry. Dumbledore was the first to walk to the front of the boat. He waved his arm lightly, and a ball of milky white light flew from the tip of his wand into the distance.
The ball of light rolled and spun in the air, like a happy firefly. It finally landed on the island in the middle of the lake, acting as a beacon for everyone.
Dumbledore's eyes swept over everyone and said in a firm voice: "I believe this boat is safe. Voldemort's purpose of placing the Horcrux is to revive himself, and he needs someone to reach the center of the lake."
"Principal, let Lupin and I go first." Sirius Black and Lupin exchanged glances, and seemed to have made up their minds.
They walked up to Dumbledore and said firmly: "If the Inferi under the water suddenly riot, you can still save us..."
"No, this boat can only carry one person." Dumbledore shook his head and corrected Kreacher's mistake, "Voldemort is calculated according to the magic carrying capacity of wizards passing through the lake. However, the magic of house elves is different from that of wizards and is not counted."
"Harry and I will go first. He is still underage, just like Kreacher, and is completely outside of Voldemort's cognition..."
"But professor, didn't you just say that the boat measures the magic of wizards? If I get on the boat with you, it will be the magic of two people." Harry shouted unconvinced, not wanting to be treated as a child by them.
Moody laughed frankly and explained the reason why Dumbledore did this quite straightforwardly: "Harry, compared with Dumbledore's power, I'm afraid it can be ignored."
Harry frowned unhappily immediately. Lies don't hurt people, but the truth is the sharpest knife.
"I also think you should go first with the headmaster." Roger's words surprised Harry. Did he also look down on his magic power? Did he think it was not worth mentioning?
Harry thought to himself: "Anyway, we are both fifteen years old. How much stronger can you be than me? Moreover, I am the champion of the Triwizard Tournament!"
Roger naturally didn't know his psychological activities. Besides, the magic power in his body far exceeded that of an adult wizard. Maybe there is still a little gap compared with Dumbledore. After all, Albus is the phoenix's contract holder and has grown up for more than a hundred years.
He raised a question that must be faced: "Since Voldemort calculates the magical power passing through the lake, then how many wizards does he allow to pass through the lake? 2? 3?"
Moody nodded in agreement. He admired Roger's way of thinking about the problem, which was more important than magic.
"No matter how many are allowed, the first one to go will definitely not be in danger." Roger turned to Kreacher and said with a smile: "If the people behind encounter an accident, Kreacher can use Apparition to bring you back."