Chapter 439: Seemingly So

As he walked back to Luo En's side, Harry's expression shifted repeatedly, for he noticed that Luo En was holding a copy of *A History of the Elder Wand*. It was hard to say whether leaving such a book on the table was a coincidence, but since Zhang Qiu didn't say anything extra, Harry didn't bring it up for the time being.

"Let's go to the hospital wing again; I reckon they'll be waking up soon," Zhang Qiu said. "I have some details I want to ask them about Decade."

"He snatched the diary. Do you think he and Evolt are in a cooperative relationship?" Harry asked tentatively.

"It's possible. We must prepare for the worst."

"I think they must be working together," Luo En voiced his own thoughts. "Otherwise, why would Decade choose this specific time to come to the school and cause trouble?"

"And we still haven't figured out how he snuck into the school," Harry sighed.

"That should be quite obvious. In his Rider state, he's immune to these protective wards, so he just had to walk in swaggeringly while keeping himself invisible," Zhang Qiu shrugged.

Chatting about this unknown enemy, the journey was inevitably somewhat gloomy. Soon, they arrived at the hospital wing and saw the four wounded people sighing on their beds, which made the atmosphere even more depressed.

"I came to ask about the abilities Decade displayed," Zhang Qiu said. "It's said he possesses the ability to transform into other Riders. Did he show that when you fought him this time?"

"No, we simply lost on the stats," Cui Ge said distressfully. "I couldn't break his defense, and his hits hurt like hell."

"Same here. His strength was too great; I couldn't fight him at all," Ma Erfu said weakly. "I think this is very unreasonable."

"Perhaps he has already obtained the Fullbottles," Lu Na said softly. "We have to find a way to become stronger too."

"Is that all?" Zhang Qiu flipped the diary back and forth, looking at it. "This doesn't make sense. A regular Decade could beat you all, and it was a gauntlet match at that."

"After all, he is an adult, and his magic power is stronger than ours."

"Eh? It wasn't said that he must be an adult, right?" Luo En slapped his thigh. "What if he is a student?"

"That's unlikely, and I think Decade is truly very strong—possibly even stronger than Saber," Ma Erfu said very seriously.

Thus, out of a subtle sense of pride, they unanimously agreed that Decade must have been transformed from an adult. Although this was not confirmed, it became an ironclad fact in the mouths of the few people involved.

"Fine, then let's assume everyone's guess is correct," Zhang Qiu said somewhat helplessly. "But what I want to figure out is why he wanted to snatch the diary. What benefit does that have for him?"

"Obviously to trade with Evolt," Luo En answered without hesitation.

"But what does Evolt have?" Zhang Qiu countered. "What does he have that Decade needs?"

After a brief silence, Lu Na proposed a new idea: "Or we could ask it this way: why didn't Evolt come to snatch the diary himself, instead of asking Decade to do it?"

"That's obvious. Evolt knew it would be difficult for him to snatch the Horcrux from the tight security, so he thought of a diversion. Oh right, he already used that trick; we've essentially fallen for it twice," Harry said with some annoyance.

"Then could there be something that Decade finds inconvenient to obtain, or something he finds inconvenient to do, so he asked Evolt to do it? I think their trade is likely like this," Lu Na said.

"Oh? Speaking of things Evolt has done, they all seem to have very clear purposes. The only thing I can't understand is why he brought Bellatrix along, and Bellatrix was even using Chronos, which she isn't familiar with..." Harry pondered.

"It's also possible the trade hasn't been reached yet."

"If that's the case, I think there is an easy way to judge," Zhang Qiu revealed a smug smile. "Based on the personality Evolt has displayed, he wouldn't remain dormant after gaining new power. Therefore, if we see a fourth-stage Evolt appear before long, it means his trade with Decade has been reached."

"And if Evolt is slow to appear, then it means the trade between him and Decade hasn't been reached yet. Or, if he unlocked the fourth stage very quickly after doing something in his third-stage form, then that means—"

"That thing is what Decade wants to do," Harry quickly picked up her thread. "And if we can know what Decade wants to do, we can infer his identity and purpose, and we won't be so passive anymore!"

"So, what we need to do next is... nothing?" Ma Erfu said with some dissatisfaction. "I thought you would be able to think of a way to gang up on him."

"This isn't like you, Ma Erfu," Pan Xi looked at him with some worry.

"In fact, what we need to do is improve our own strength, or find more helpers," Harry also felt Ma Erfu was acting a bit strange. "You could try writing a letter to that mysterious person to see if you can obtain more items from him."

"What about Double?" Lu Na continued to ask.

"Uh, in this situation, generally speaking," Zhang Qiu scratched her head, "it starts with finding some sense of identity from the uniqueness of the extract? Then feel the special emotions during transformation? Because everyone's thoughts and characteristics are different, it's hard for me to give a clear suggestion."

"You're right. I should actually explore the uniqueness of the Sword of Gryffindor, and my wand," Luo En was also inspired. "I don't think the wand is that simple."

After coming out of the hospital wing, Harry looked at the dim sky and felt somewhat emotional: "So many things happened today."

"Is that so? But I don't think anything has changed," Luo En said. "Evolt is still at large, Decade's identity and purpose remain unknown, and that white-haired one said a few heartfelt words, but nothing has changed."

"Positively speaking, we at least caught Bellatrix. And this time there's no reason to let her go; we can make her rot in prison."

In fact, the achievements of this day were more than just catching Bellatrix, and Harry had clearly forgotten another gain. It wasn't until the next day after breakfast, when he came to the Headmaster's office following the Fat Lady's summons and saw Snape, that he remembered.

"This is Lestrange's belt and the matching Energy Bottle. It's very strange; no one else can use it," Snape placed the items on the table. "You deal with this thing."

"Ah, this? Logically, this requires playing video games to use," Harry guessed half-understandingly. "But how did Bellatrix use it?"

"Video games? What is that?" Snape frowned. "Perhaps it's because of this thing that Bellatrix has gone almost completely insane."

"She keeps thinking Evolt is the Dark Lord; mentioning Voldemort or Tom Riddle's name actually makes her feel unfamiliar. And she doesn't recognize Delphi, and even mistook me for Lucius several times," Snape shook his head. "We contacted Rodolphus, but he said Bellatrix 'betrayed the Dark Lord' and seems to have given up on this woman."

"This... no matter what, she is Rodolphus's wife. Could Rodolphus have been threatened?" Harry felt things were completely beyond his expectations.

"It's possible. By the way, Rodolphus said she destroyed the Dark Mark, but our inspection shows Bellatrix's Dark Mark is actually intact."

"Could it be," Harry suddenly had a bold conjecture, "that the person in front of us isn't the real Bellatrix?"

Snape pondered for a long time, then shook his head. "Treat it as the real one for now. We'll keep her locked up in another place for the time being. Next time, if we want to lure Evolt into acting again, we won't have to risk taking out a Horcrux."

"When is next time? I think we could try in the near future," Harry proposed. "We all know Evolt is injured, but Luo En and Aliana's states are nearly perfect. If we make a big show of escorting Bellatrix to Azkaban, perhaps we could ambush and catch Evolt."

"Decade snatched the diary. Are you sure Evolt won't enter the fourth stage?" Snape asked seriously. "We'd better not take the risk."

"Then when can it be considered foolproof?" Harry asked, somewhat disappointed.

"The Ministry of Magic is preparing to launch a new round of Queen Project trials. Donna is still improving the flintlock, and the Magical Congress is working on creating a second Herrscher," Snape said slowly. "Our power is also growing."

"But both the flintlock and the Herrscher have irreparable flaws," Harry frowned. "The success rate of the Queen Project is also not guaranteed."

"You're right, but it's better than doing nothing," Snape had an inexplicable calmness. "You can rest for a while, Potter, and deal with school matters, such as the Apparition exam, and also, the team. McGonagall specifically asked me to remind you; of course, she was also reminding me."

Harry nodded with a guilty conscience. Indeed, he was clearly the Gryffindor captain, but the team had basically been managed by Ginny all along. While this hadn't caused any bad effects, it definitely couldn't be called a good thing.

"Then, what if Evolt takes the initiative to attack?" Harry was still somewhat worried.

"The Musketeer Squad still has some days before being phased out," Snape hinted cryptically.

As Harry walked out of the office, he somewhat understood Snape's meaning. Since the Musketeer Squad had some days before being phased out, it meant that a secret project to counter the Kamen Riders had made breakthrough progress. No wonder Snape had started to become unhurried.

Only, he looked at the office with some worry: if there was already a way, why let Mia lie on the operating table? ===== CHAPTER 440 =====