Pansy Parkinson felt herself being swept along by a current toward an exit. She tumbled up and down, completely losing her sense of direction.
Multicolored specks of light spun rapidly around her, making her dizzy. Pansy closed her eyes, thinking it would make her feel better.
She had never drunk alcohol, so she couldn't understand the feeling of closing one's eyes and having the whole world spin rapidly around the crown of one's head.
But she felt it now.
Over ten seconds later, she suddenly felt herself land on the ground. Her buttocks hurt from the fall. She propped herself up with both hands and felt solid stone flooring.
Opening her eyes, the first thing she did was vomit a rainbow.
Wiping her mouth, Pansy stood up, trembling.
Where was this?
What came into view was an empty room. There was only a small ventilation window near the ceiling. Light spilled in from that window, illuminating floating dust but bringing only faint brightness.
If not for the lack of torture devices in the room, she would have thought this was a holding cell.
Pansy was terrified. She just wanted to see what Draco and Audrey were doing; how did she get transported to this place?
She pulled out her wand, although it was just for comfort—as a first-year student, she really didn't have any magic that could protect her.
Pansy walked cautiously toward the door. Although the room was dim, the door was still visible.
With a gentle push, the door opened just like that.
This looked like a Muggle house.
Concrete floors, concrete walls. A pure-blood wizard would never use such tasteless building materials\!
The Muggle lights on the wall made this corridor look very bright, which put the little girl's heart at ease slightly. At least this wasn't a dungeon or something similar.
Suddenly, voices speaking a language she didn't understand came from the distance. Startled, Pansy ducked into a random room. Fortunately, there was no one in the room, only two desks and paperwork piled high on the surfaces.
"The trap in the boss's room was triggered. Someone has been transported here. What is wrong with you? Why did you leave your post?" (Spoken in Ukrainian)
"I just went to the toilet. I feel like that Indian cook is poisonous\! Besides, there hasn't been any movement for so many days; who knew someone would sneak into the boss's room at this exact time\!" (Spoken in Ukrainian)
"Stop talking nonsense. Let's go check quickly. If it's a dangerous dark wizard, we're in trouble\! There are too many Muggles in the factory\!" (Spoken in Ukrainian)
"Dark wizard? Didn't you see that our leaders all have the Deathly Hallows tattooed on them? Weren't they also considered dark wizards decades ago? Today's dark wizards can't compare to them at all. Don't worry\!" (Spoken in Ukrainian)
Two wizards wearing work clothes ran toward the room Pansy had just come out of. Pansy peeked her head out of the room carefully. That was close\! She almost got caught\!
She hurriedly ran in the opposite direction of the two men. In a short while, she exited the stairwell and arrived at the platform on the external stairs of the building.
Clang, clang, clang, bang, bang, bang...
Loud sounds of metal impacting were deafening. Towering metal creations were everywhere.
Judging by her pitifully small amount of Muggle knowledge, Pansy figured this should be a shipyard, but...
What on earth was that giant steel ship hundreds of meters long\!\!
Footsteps and voices coming up the stairs from below scared Pansy into running upstairs immediately.
"Mr. Wang, rest assured. Our boss has instructed that we will install all the core components of the Varyag before handing it over to your country." (Spoken in broken Chinese)
"That is truly appreciated. Please send my regards to your boss." (Spoken in Chinese)
"Easy to say, easy to say. However, about the matter we discussed last time regarding opening a factory in your country...?" (Spoken in broken Chinese)
"We are still discussing it. However, let me give you the bottom line. For a factory that concerns the national economy and people's livelihood like a steel plant, it is unrealistic for you to have full ownership. Our country must hold at least 51% of the shares." (Spoken in Chinese)
"Okay, I will relay this to our boss so she can prepare in advance." (Spoken in broken Chinese)
Pansy didn't hear any of this dialogue clearly, but even if she had, she wouldn't have understood it.
Trembling with fear, Pansy ran all the way to the top floor. Her tears flowed down uncontrollably. Where exactly was this place?
The floor of the top-level corridor was no longer concrete but paved with wooden flooring. The office doors on both sides were made of higher-grade wood. The end of the corridor looked like a conference room, with large potted plants placed on both sides of the main door.
The voices downstairs were getting closer. Pansy was frantic and ran inward hurriedly.
She just hoped that the conference room was not in use so she could hide for a while.
Gasping for breath, Pansy ran to the end.
Just as she reached out to push the door, she heard voices coming from inside.
"The Coupon dropped again this month. What do you think?" (Spoken in German)
"This is a good thing. We can save a lot of money on salaries every month\!" (Spoken in German)
"Hahaha, I can't wait to see the expressions on those Gringotts goblins' faces\!" (Spoken in German)
"I think the goblins might jump over the wall in desperation. They might be detrimental to the boss." (Spoken in German)
"Edmond is right. We should increase the security forces for the boss." (Spoken in German)
"Yes, matters here in Ukraine are on the right track, and cooperation with the great Eastern country is about to begin. The boss's safety is the most important thing right now." (Spoken in German)
Bang\!
The conference room door was pushed open. A tall man was holding a little girl in wizard robes by the collar. Behind him stood a white-haired Huaxia man.
"This brat was eavesdropping at the door." (Spoken in German) The tall man pushed Pansy forward.
"Mr. Schmidt, you...?" (Spoken in Chinese)
Schmidt looked back and smiled. "Rest assured, it is just a small interlude." (Spoken in broken Chinese)
Pansy was terrified.
Not only was she caught, but she also saw incredible figures.
As a legitimate daughter of the Parkinson family, Pansy had attended various banquets of pure-blood families across Europe since she was very young, so she knew quite a few people\!
The elegant old lady in the very center was Vinda Rosier\! The dark wizard Grindelwald's most loyal follower.
And the other old men sitting in attendance whom Pansy recognized were all former Acolytes\!
A young man stood up. Although one of his eyes was gray, it did not affect his handsome appearance.
"Pansy Parkinson, did you trespass in Audrey's room?"
This was the first sentence Pansy could understand since being sent to this inexplicable place.
But it was this very sentence that gave her goosebumps all over.
Audrey's room was connected to this mysterious stronghold (at least in her view, it was a mysterious stronghold)\!
And the people in this stronghold were the Acolytes.
So Audrey = Acolyte.
Adding the rumor that Audrey used blue fire magic when fighting the dark wizard Bode Gray in Hogsmeade... that was practically the signature of the dark wizard Grindelwald\!
Astley definitely had a conspiracy\! Her infiltration of Hogwarts must be a conspiracy\!
She knew it; how could a Mudblood be such a genius\!
It was over... she now knew Audrey Astley's secret.
So, would she be silenced?
Pansy shook her head vigorously. "I-I didn't mean to. I saw Draco go into Astley's room. I-I just followed him in..."
Pansy's tears and snot flowed wildly. She almost roared it out: "I am Pansy Parkinson, of the Parkinson family\!"
She looked at Vinda Rosier and said pitifully, "Grandma Rosier, I met you at your granddaughter's birthday party\! Please, don't kill me\!"
Vinda said to Edmond, "Handle it quickly. We have a distinguished guest here." (Spoken in German)
Edmond nodded and dragged Pansy out of the conference room.
Behind them came Schmidt's explanation: "This is a child of one of our shareholders. She is a bit naughty; sorry for the laugh." (Spoken in broken Chinese)
As soon as the conference room door closed, Edmond grabbed Pansy and Disapparated.
When they reappeared, they were on a reef in the sea area of the Black Sea Shipyard. Surrounded by seawater on all sides, Pansy was scared paralyzed.
It was over, it was over. She was going to be destroyed, corpse and all\!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]