"Mr. Moody, this is the price to pay. Professor Dumbledore will not let anyone who knows his secret go free."
Tom shouted to Moody while fending off Dumbledore's attacks.
Moody deflected a residual wave from Dumbledore and Tom's battle with his wand, looking at Tom with a pleading gaze: "What should we do now? Join forces to resist Dumbledore?"
Hours earlier, Moody would never have dreamed that things would turn out this way.
Dumbledore was not the Dumbledore he knew, and Lord Voldemort was not the Lord Voldemort he knew.
Now, with Dumbledore fighting Lord Voldemort, the choice of sides, which originally had no suspense, made Moody surprisingly consider helping Lord Voldemort against Dumbledore.
Just as Moody thought he must be insane, he realized that in the moment he had been distracted, he had been thrown onto a small boat by Tom, with a House-elf beside him, and then the boat slowly sailed towards the center of the lake.
"Go to the center of the lake and retrieve the relic left by the first generation Lord Voldemort. That is what Dumbledore is desperately seeking. Grey will help you. For the magic world, I beg you, Mr. Moody."
Hearing Tom's shout, Moody finally remembered Dumbledore's purpose for this trip.
It turned out Dumbledore's true goal was the relic of the first generation Lord Voldemort. Something Dumbledore cared about so much must contain a huge secret, and thus, it absolutely could not fall into Dumbledore's hands.
Just as Moody secretly made up his mind, he heard Tom shout: "Lord Voldemort will never be a slave!"
"For Hogwarts!"
Then he resolutely charged towards Dumbledore.
Tom's determined, death-defying back in Moody's eyes instantly overlapped with the backs of his Auror colleagues who bravely fought Lord Voldemort and Death Eaters during the Wizarding War, making his heart ache uncontrollably.
Unable to bear watching, Moody turned around and looked towards the center of the lake, his gaze instantly becoming incredibly resolute. He would never let Tom's 'sacrifice' be in vain.
Upon arriving at the platform in the center of the lake, the only thing Moody saw was a stone basin. Approaching it, he found it filled with emerald green Potion.
Moody remembered Tom's words and asked the House-elf, Grey, beside him in a deep voice: "What should be done with this? Drink it?"
Grey silently blinked his innocent large eyes at Moody, looking foolishly adorable, appearing not very intelligent.
Yet, he was dying of anxiety internally: 'Master, what exactly did you say? Grey, come on, stop thinking about your recycled junk, try hard to remember!'
'Why can't I remember? Oh no, oh no, if this continues, I'll be Crucioed.'
Seeing no response, Moody decided to ignore this foolish House-elf and prepared to try it himself.
Just then, Grey seemed to suddenly remember something, hitting his head sharply, remembering something else.
"Mr. Moody, I remember! Please kneel down on one knee."
"Kneel on one knee?" Moody found Grey's request very strange.
"Yes, you just need to kneel on one knee, and then leave the rest to Grey."
If it's just kneeling on one knee, it's worth a try. He wanted to see what this House-elf would do.
As Moody painstakingly knelt on one knee with his prosthetic leg, Grey leaned over the stone basin and drank a mouthful of Potion, then, with lightning speed, turned around, cupped Moody's head, and then...
Kissed him.
!!!
Alastor Moody, an elite Auror who had experienced countless battles big and small throughout his life, was this time stunned by the bizarre action of a tiny House-elf, unable to react immediately.
It wasn't until Grey transferred the Potion into Moody's mouth and the Potion flowed down his throat that he suddenly awoke, pushing away the House-elf in front of him.
His first kiss!
His innocence!
Mr. Alastor Moody, who had lived so long without ever being in love, regretted for the first time not having given away his first kiss when he was younger.
His requirements weren't high: female, alive would do; if not, male, alive wouldn't be out of the question either.
As for now, a House-elf, male—this was a choice he had never even considered.
Moody, who was usually extremely vigilant, for the first time hated himself for losing his guard around a House-elf. But then again, what normal House-elf would pull a stunt like this?
Suppressing his nausea, Moody, who didn't even care that the Potion had been forced down, sharply asked Grey: "You'd better give me an explanation?"
"Because Master said that the toxicity of the Potion can only be endured after being transferred mouth-to-mouth."
Grey looked at Moody with a serious expression, his eyes full of sincerity.
"Are you sure Tom Riddle really said that?"
Listening to this method, Moody felt it sounded so unreliable.
Grey scratched his head and thought carefully: 'What exactly did Master say? Grey really can't seem to remember.'
'But Master once said that in the distant East, there's a kind of kung fu where the more you practice it, the more painful it becomes, but if transferred to someone else, there won't be such pain.'
'If you substitute kung fu for Potion, one person drinking it would find the toxicity unbearable, but if transferred to someone else, there wouldn't be such a problem, and mouth-to-mouth is the most effective way to transfer it.'
'Equation holds!'
Grey, who had once again deduced the optimal solution, gave himself a mental pat on the back for his cleverness and nodded to Moody with certainty: "That's right, Master said exactly that."
Moody's face immediately contorted as if he were constipated; he felt completely unwell.
Just as Moody was caught in an internal struggle, the commotion from Dumbledore and Tom's battle in the distance helped him make up his mind: he couldn't wait any longer.
I, Alastor Moody, for the magic world, will endure it.
"Slurp ~ Slurp ~"
The House-elf, Grey, kissed Moody repeatedly, exchanging liquid with him mouth-to-mouth.
Moody, who hadn't let out a single groan even when he lost his leg or was covered in scars during the Wizarding War, finally couldn't help but shed tears of humiliation from his real eye at this moment.
"Water... water..."
As the Potion was about to run out, Moody felt his body and mind plunged into extreme pain, barely holding on by sheer willpower.
Why, after such a great sacrifice, was he still reduced to this ghastly state?
So, what that House-elf said was all nonsense, wasn't it?
Thinking this, his already tormented body and mind became even more agonizing, but now he was too weak to stop Grey's actions.
The only saving grace was that the Inferi had already been cleared, preventing Moody from being dragged to the bottom of the lake.
After Grey transferred the Potion into Moody's mouth yet again, the Regulus pendant finally emerged.
When Grey presented the locket to Moody, Moody forced a faint smile.
This nightmare was finally, finally over!