The Albanian forest in the deep night was not quiet.
The appearance of the Golden Unicorn with the Fountain of Fair Fortune gave the wizards, already drawn to this legend, absolutely no reason to leave now.
Severus and his group returned from that secret realm relatively early. Many more wizards were still inside the secret realm and hadn't returned yet.
This attracted all the magical newspaper reporters from Albania and nearby regions. They gathered by the now-deactivated stone door, conducting follow-up interviews and reports on every wizard who emerged from it.
All the reporters were waiting for the luckiest person who had reached the mountaintop and bathed in the spring to appear. Getting this first-hand scoop would send their newspaper sales through the roof tomorrow!
But as time passed, more and more wizards returned from the stone door, all bringing back news of failure.
The luckiest two wizards had managed to reach the maze through cooperation, but without a map and hindered by the plants inside, they couldn't find their way out no matter what.
In the end, they had to return empty-handed.
Among these wizards returning in failure, there was also a rather peculiar pair.
They were two male wizards, one tall and one short. When they emerged from the stone door, the younger-looking, taller wizard seemed very displeased. When reporters approached him, wanting to ask about their gains in the secret realm, the wizard just waved them away disgustedly, shouting in English for them all to get lost!
The insulted reporters, angry, directed their photographers behind them to take pictures of these two men. Regardless of whether there was news tomorrow about interviewing a wizard who bathed in the Fountain of Fair Fortune, they would write a separate article to discuss how the atmosphere in the wizarding world had deteriorated, with some wizards of poor character taking out their frustrations on reporters after gaining nothing in the secret realm.
The two male wizards of questionable character, now resented by the reporters, moved away from the crowd to a secluded corner and began to vent.
"Why did we even go in? Was finding that Fountain of Fair Fortune the reason we came here? No!"
"We came to find Master! How could Master possibly be in that spring!"
"You even used me as a test subject, deliberately throwing me into that river! Didn't you consider that the river might have a sinking curse that would pull me down and drown me!"
"What do you take me for? Your lab rat?"
"I'm starting to suspect Rawle isn't off on some other business! Did you use him like this, and somehow get him killed somewhere!"
The angry male wizard was naturally Perkins, the Death Eater who had come to Albania from Britain.
He and Barty had disguised themselves as Albanian Aurors, infiltrated the underground ruins, learned that Severus was here, and after seeing the things in the ruins, became even more certain that if their Master was alive, he must be here.
So after emerging from the ruins, they began searching and investigating throughout the forest.
Barty's mind was sharper than most Death Eaters. He had a clear plan: if they found no clues in the forest within three days, they would find a way to locate Severus and then secretly follow him.
As long as Severus made a discovery, they could intercept it from the shadows!
But only a day had passed when a major event occurred in the forest.
The Golden Unicorn galloping through the woods attracted the attention of most people, including Perkins and Barty. They quickly learned that the Golden Unicorn had opened a stone door to find the Fountain of Fair Fortune near a troll camp by the river in the forest.
Regarding this legendary object, neither Perkins nor Barty Jr. cared at all.
The so-called few years of good luck couldn't compare to the benefits finding their Master would bring them.
But Barty, like a wolf smelling blood, immediately took Perkins and mixed with the crowd of other wizards rushing towards the location where the stone door opened.
His reasoning was simple.
From the Albanian Aurors, they had learned that Severus guided the Aurors to discover the underground ruins and even took an item from deep within.
Those ruins were clearly related to the Fountain of Fair Fortune, so Barty Jr. could reasonably conclude that Severus was most likely behind this opening of the Fountain of Fair Fortune's secret realm!
Therefore, there was a high probability of finding clues related to the Master within this secret realm.
So upon arriving, Barty Jr. didn't hesitate and directly charged into the stone door with Perkins.
Their luck was very good, as they successfully found the cave leading directly to the mountaintop on that impossibly steep hillside.
However, they were ultimately blocked by the river, unable to find a way across no matter what.
So Barty discussed with Perkins, suggesting he try entering the river to see if he could simply swim across.
But after Perkins threw a branch into the river and saw it didn't float up, he firmly refused to make such an extremely dangerous attempt.
Before he could even finish his refusal, Barty actually kicked him straight into the water!
The river indeed had a curse that prevented things from floating, causing them to sink inevitably. Perkins flailed about, swallowing several mouthfuls of water, and was only saved because Barty pulled him back out.
Even so, this action still infuriated Perkins to the point of near madness!
Although he didn't fully trust Barty either, he still regarded him as a temporarily trustworthy leader.
But what had this leader done?
He completely disregarded his safety and well-being, pushing him into danger without a second thought!
This time it was kicking him into the water, but what about next time?
Would it be using the Killing Curse on his back next time?
Faced with Perkins's accusations and roars, Barty remained expressionless from start to finish.
He was still as calm and indifferent as ever, as if both kicking Perkins into the water and losing his trust were trivial matters to him.
"You don't need to lose your temper with me like this. As long as we can find Master, whether you sacrifice or I sacrifice, it's all worth it."
"You only know how to say things like that! But where is Master now?" Perkins glared at Barty
He was afraid of this young man who, like Bellatrix and others, seemed crazy, but if he continued to be dominated by this fear, he didn't know when this madman would get him killed!
"We couldn't cross that river at all! Even if we did, would Master be waiting for us by that damned spring? You messed things up in Britain, found no clues, lost Rawle, and it's the same here in Albania!"
But Barty just answered with calm voice.
"So next, we need to find Snape. If we can't find any clues ourselves, then we follow him. As long as he has gains, it's equivalent to our gains."
"I won't stay here with you any longer!" Perkins had clearly had enough. "I'm going back! I'm returning to Britain! Staying here with you is a waste of time, and I have to constantly worry about being sold out by you!"
"Snape was right before! You betrayed your own father, you attacked him! Who else couldn't you betray!"
Anger had clearly clouded Perkins's mind. The last sentence almost slipped out without him thinking.
Once the words were out, he immediately regretted it, his face pale as he instinctively covered his mouth and took two steps back.
Barty's expression hadn't changed at all throughout, no matter what complaints Perkins voiced. Only when the last sentence was uttered did his cold, sharp eyes narrow slightly.
The scene became somewhat quiet, and Barty's hand had unknowingly reached for the wand hidden in his sleeve.
He took a deep breath, just as he was about to say something, both Death Eaters suddenly froze, stunned!
The next second, they both snapped back to reality simultaneously. They looked at each other, then unanimously covered one of their arms with their other hand!
There, they shared a common mark.
A mark that could only be summoned and activated by one being!
And this mark had lain dormant for a full eight years before this. This was the first time in eight years it had produced a sensation!
"It's... It's..." Perkins widened his eyes, stammering incoherently!
Barty's eyes, however, shone with an astonishing light.
"It's Master! Master is summoning us! He's not far from us! He knows we came here to find him!!"
At this point, Perkins no longer mentioned returning to Britain, and Barty seemed to have completely forgotten the words he had just said. They both became extremely excited and exhilarated.
The Dark Mark had produced a sensation, meaning they really hadn't been wrong this time.
Their Master was here, and he also knew someone had come to find him!
…
Even by the next morning, the area by the lake was still crowded with wizards.
Even though a night had passed, there were still wizards inside the stone arc who hadn't returned.
As long as people hadn't returned, it meant there was still a possibility that someone had found the legendary Fountain of Fair Fortune and bathed in its waters.
After getting up early, Severus brushed his teeth while watching the wizards who had stayed up all night there, still excitedly chatting about the Fountain of Fair Fortune and speculating about who would ultimately receive such good fortune.
"They've made a complete mess of this place."
Andrews had no interest in the Fountain of Fair Fortune and naturally felt no fondness for these people flocking to find it… in fact, he was quite annoyed.
"When these reporters arrived yesterday, they seemed to want to get some small news from me too. They kept asking me who built those troll houses and for what reason we would think to build houses for a bunch of trolls."
"I chased them all away, but it's too troublesome for Lulu to restrain so many trolls from being frightened by these wizards and becoming violent."
Severus patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry, they'll stay here at most for another day or two, and then they'll be gone."
Andrews certainly believed Severus's words. When he turned around, he discovered that Lupin was actually packing up their magical tent early in the morning.
This couldn't help but surprise Andrews.
"You are..."
"We also have to say goodbye to you, Pique. This morning, we are leaving Albania and returning to Britain. Thank you for your hospitality and help during this time. Don't worry, we won't forget to take Lockhart with us when we leave."
Hearing Severus's words, Andrews's mouth fell open in obvious surprise, but he quickly recovered.
They were bound to part ways one day, but he just hadn't expected it to be so soon.
The troll expert and wizard adventurer gave Severus a hug.
"No, it is I who should thank you for your help to me and Lulu during this time. Without you, all these trolls would have died in that valley!"
Then Andrews went to find Lupin and the others, saying goodbye to each of them. Severus used this time to find Kabunara, the Albanian Auror supervisor stationed in this forest, and informed him about the curse of the Fountain of Fair Fortune.
"You found the final Fountain of Fair Fortune!" Kabunara stared at Severus in shock.
Severus just shrugged.
"My luck was a bit better, but that spring clearly involves some scheme left behind by Herpo. Although I've confirmed from an elder that Herpo died over a thousand years ago, and whatever plan he had is now useless, this thing can still cause harm to people, right?"
"This is Albania's territory. Preventing problems before they happen is your job. I'm returning to Britain."
"You're going back?" Kabunara was also surprised by this.
"Yes, it's time to go back." As he spoke, Severus tossed the repaired silver whistle to Kabunara.
"This thing was dug up in your territory, so returning it to you counts as returning it to its rightful owner. It was this that summoned the Golden Unicorn that opened the stone arc. But it's useless now. I tried blowing the whistle again this morning, but no unicorn appeared."
After explaining these matters to Kabunara, Severus returned to the troll camp.
Lupin and the others had already packed all their luggage by then. They could leave directly at any time.
"Are we leaving so suddenly? Professor, didn't you come to find something? We haven't found it, and we're leaving just like that?" Harry said, somewhat reluctant.
When he asked this, both Lupin and Sirius, who had been lying on the ground, turned to look at Severus simultaneously.
Severus just smiled, his smile somewhat mysterious.
"This trip of ours has been a bountiful harvest!"