<h4>Chapter 85: Attack on Castle Drac</h4>
A beam of white light shot out from Lockhart''s wand tip, crashing towards Drac with immense force.
Yet Drac merely stared at him coldly, his eyes shifting with light, allowing the beam of the Forgetfulness Charm to strike him.
In the next moment, the spell took effect, creating a connection between Lockhart''s memory and Drac.
A millennium of time seemed like a roaring tidal wave, crashing heavily into Lockhart''s mind, instantly shattering his fragile memories.
The many memories Lockhart had hidden in his mind were like debris washed away after a tsunami, thoroughly merging into the sea as the waves receded.
Drac quietly browsed through Lockhart''s chaotic memories, searching for what he had once plundered. After a while, he found information about Robert in a corner, learning the specific location of his seclusion.
"I knew it. He is indeed not here," Drac said softly.
He then looked at Lockhart, whose gaze had be vacant, and smiled self-deprecatingly, "If it weren''t for being influenced by Te''s principles and bottom lines, there wouldn''t have been such trouble."
Actually, after hearing Lockhart''s story, Drac had already thought of using Legilimency to search Lockhart''s memories. However, Te, as a junior, had adhered to the pride and principles of being a vampire and refrained from drinking the blood of innocent people.
Te''s actions touched Drac, so he adhered to a small principle himself—he didn''t directly invade Lockhart''s memories but tricked Lockhart into using the Forgetfulness Charm first, then used a millennium''s worth of memory, which ordinary wizards could not withstand, to counteract his brain.
It seemed no different from directly taking action, but it made Drac feel a bit more pleasant.
Thus, Drac deliberately spread his wings in the sky above the Danube River, allowing Lockhart to recognize his vampire identity.
After recognizing the vampire identity, Lockhart would naturally worry about his safety and, in a panic, choose to resist... and then, as expected, be dealt with by the count who had already seen through everything.
"Hello."
Lockhart''s voice rang out.
Drac looked at Lockhart and found him sitting on the ground with a nk expression, gazing vacantly ahead.
"This ce is really remote, isn''t it?" he asked. "Do you live here alone?"
"No." Drac raised an eyebrow with interest, finding that Lockhart without memories was much more pleasant to look at. "What can you still remember now, Mr. Lockhart?"
"Mr. Lockhart? Is that my name?" Lockhart showed a friendly expression. "Oh, let me think. I vaguely remember being a professional swindler... Hmm, lying is wrong. Did I remember something incorrectly..."
"Forget it if you can''t remember, Mr. Lockhart." Drac chuckled lightly. "If you trust me,e with me."
"Of course, you look like a righteous person," Lockhart said with an honest expression.
Drac then grabbed Lockhart by the cor and spread his wings again to fly into the sky.
Following the direction found in Lockhart''s memory, Drac identified the path and flew towards the forest where Robert was hiding.
Lockhart hung below Drac''s palm, with the cold air blowing through his hair.
"Wow! Amazing! It''s like magic!" he shouted repeatedly.
...
Robert''s residence was not far from the previous hill.
After a short while, Drac retracted his wings andnded in front of a wooden house that looked very simple yet was meticulously repaired.
Not far from the wooden house was a lush lettuce field. An old man was holding a sickle, cutting the lettuce nts one by one and cing them into a woven basket behind him.
The old man''s face looked very weathered, covered in deep and shallow wrinkles, with very rough hands and dirt-filled nail beds. His clothing was also very simple and worn out, with a dirty towel hanging around his neck, which he asionally used to wipe sweat.
He seemed just like an old farmer, showing no trace of the former captain of the Serb Auror team.
Noticing Drac and Lockhart by the wooden house, the old man straightened up and walked out of the field with some difficulty.
"Are you... wizards?" he looked at their robes with surprise. "It''s quite rare. Few wizardse to such a remote ce."
"Hello, Mr. Robert." Drac curiously observed the old man who was friends with vampires and pointed to Lockhart beside him. "Do you know this guy?"
The old man put down the basket of vegetables and looked at Lockhart.
Lockhart appropriately showed a friendly expression.
"I''ve never seen him before." The old man looked at Lockhart''s face, which was covered in dry dirt, and asked in confusion, "Is he also a vegetable grower?"
"Ah, so I am a vegetable grower!" Lockhart said with a sudden realization.
"Just keep your mouth shut," Drac said, twitching his lips as he sealed Lockhart''s lips together. "Forget about this fool for now. I want to ask if you remember any friends?"
"What friends would an old fool like me have?" He shook his head indifferently after brushing off the dirt from his hands. "My friends either died in duels with dark wizards or were too old and passed away before me. I am nowpletely alone and unconcerned."
"I see," Drac said after a moment of silence.
He then bid farewell to Robert and left the forest where Robert was hiding with Lockhart.
"Such strange wizards," Robert shook his head inexplicably as he watched them leave, then turned back to continue harvesting his lettuce.
...
Drac walked quietly by the Danube River, with Lockhart following beside him, constantly signaling Drac to remove the spell from his mouth.
However, Drac found his incessant questions annoying and ignored him.
He realized that Robert''s memories of the vampire Te had beenpletely erased, and even the memory of meeting Lockhart had disappeared.
Lockhart was indeed quite adept at using the Forgetfulness Charm. From Robert''s performance, there was no sign of having been extensively brainwashed by the Forgetfulness Charm. His behavior was very normal, with no apparent aftereffects.
In such a situation, forcibly injecting the erased memories back into Robert''s mind would likely cause more harm.
Drac, feeling somewhat irritated, turned to look at the culprit responsible for this situation and saw him still innocently pointing at his mouth, asking Drac to help him.
Drac, uninterested, snapped his fingers.
"Ah—finally able to speak!"
Lockhart opened his mouth wide, shouting in relief, nearly provoking Drac to seal his lips again.
Lockhart then asked with admiration, "Was that just magic? Did I meet a magician?"
"And another thing, I wasn''t a swindler, right?" he said. "I know being a swindler is wrong. I must be a vegetable grower!"
Drac, helplessly rubbing his forehead, sealed Lockhart''s mouth again.
How could there be such an annoying wizard? He managed to make one want to hit him whether he had lost his memory or not.
At this moment, Drac''s eyes suddenly shifted.
He quickly took out the moonlit crystal ball from his pocket and looked into the center of the sphere—
The faintly glowing dark moon had now been stained with blood,pletely turning into a blood moon! A fiercely ominous aura spread rapidly with the blood-red moonlight!
Drac vanished from his original spot in an instant.
Lockhart, left alone by the Danube Riverbank, looked around the empty scene and scratched his head in confusion, not knowing what had happened...
...
Romania, Bran Castle.
This grand castle is located in the central-western part of Romania, about 30 kilometers from Bra?ov.
To Muggles, it is a building started by the Hungarian king in 1377, originally a defensive fortification against the Turks. Today, Bran Castle has been converted by the Muggle government into a historical and art museum, disying ssic items from various periods.
But that is only the surface, disconnected from the magical world.
In addition to Bran Castle, Romania also has Drac''s Castle, which is protected by an Unplottable Charm and fortified with numerous defensive spells. The surrounding area is also covered with extensive Muggle-repelling spells.
These spells are meant to protect Muggles.
Because of therge number of low-level vampires in the area, they would show no mercy to those helpless Muggles. Once someone approached, they would be targeted by the ravenous vampires and be their prey.
Within Bran Castle is a mysterious room, often upied by high-level vampires from Drac''s Castle, to guide visitors from the magical world into the true vampire territory.
Arthur Wessley and Molly Wessley had delivered the crystal ball to Bran Castle.
The high-level vampire on duty there received the crystal ball and immediately sent it back to the main tower of Drac''s Castle.
However, when Drac arrived, the room in Bran Castle was empty.
He realized the seriousness of the situation and used Apparition to arrive at the true Drac''s Castle—
...
Few people know that Count Drac was born in Romania.
d Drac was initially born in a prestigious noble family in Romania during the 10th century. His father was a grand duke of high renown and had a powerful army.
However, Drac was never interested in inheriting titles or learning noble etiquette. He was only curious about some magical urrences happening to him.
He had an exceptional talent for self-learning various methods to use this magical power.
Later, a wizard named Szar Slytherin traveled to Romania. He told Drac that these magical things were called magic.
A sudden epidemic swept through Drac''s father''s domain, and nearly all the inhabitants lost their lives to the disease, including the duke himself.
However, Drac remained alive,