Hogwarts Card System Chapter 303

Chapter 302: Yesterday Once More~

Just a few days ago, Little Barty, one of the three heinous individuals who had been roaming the Muggle world in Europe, suddenly overheard a young Muggle bragging to his friends about his upcoming adventure into the catacombs beneath Paris.

The kid’s bragging was so over-the-top, like golden lotuses springing from his mouth, and he was practically foaming at the corners!

Little Barty immediately sensed its value. With a quick Legilimency, he extracted the information from the kid’s mind.

However, the kid had only heard it from others, and the adventure itself was just bragging.

Little Barty was young and intelligent, and he adapted to Muggle society very well, far better than Voldemort and Ryan, who didn’t even look human.

Having familiarized himself with Muggle society, he quickly found a library and began researching information about the Paris catacombs.

At least one thing the bragging kid said was true—nearly six million skeletons were buried underground there!

Europe, this vast land, had also frequently suffered from major plagues in the past.

For example, the Black Death!

Especially big cities like Paris and London; even today, you can’t say they are particularly clean.

Hundreds of years ago, it was a city where people relieved themselves wherever they pleased, to the point where high heels were invented to avoid stepping in excrement, and hats were constantly worn to avoid having excrement poured on one’s head.

It is said that for a period in history, the mountains of excrement outside Paris were almost as high as the city walls!

With such sanitary conditions, wouldn’t plagues just appear out of nowhere?

It wasn’t until 1786 that another plague broke out in Paris, and by then, all the surrounding cemeteries were completely full!

Even overlapping graves had collapsed together—creating mass graves!

To solve this problem once and for all, the French king at the time chose an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach—transferring all the bones to underground mines a dozen miles outside the city.

The massive stones used for buildings like Notre Dame and Versailles in Paris were excavated from here.

Now that the mines were abandoned, it was a perfect opportunity for repurposing.

At that time, people transferred all the bones from the cemeteries in the city to this location.

This place continued to be used as a cemetery until 1814. That is, the transfer of bones stopped just over a hundred years ago.

The problem was that no one anticipated the city would develop so rapidly, eventually encompassing the former burial grounds!

So, now, many famous streets in Paris, especially those south of the Seine River, are built directly over the catacombs. There have even been instances of collapse.

To prevent the entire city from sinking, a geological department was established specifically to inspect and maintain the catacombs annually.

According to statistics, 6 million human skeletons are piled there.

Just this summer, Parisian authorities opened 1.6 kilometers of the catacombs as a visitor area.

There’s even a chapel, called the Ossuary, built with walls and various structures made of femurs and skulls!

One has to admit, it’s truly morbid~

As soon as this information was confirmed, a light bulb “dinged” in Little Barty’s mind.

He had found a way to eliminate Ryan, appease his master, and remove a hidden danger!

Little Barty had already witnessed Ryan’s methods.

Especially his ability to resurrect the dead—it was simply terrifying!

As an elite of the entire British magical community, he knew something about “necromancy.”

But generally, these were unsavory practices.

Some ancient African and South American witchcraft involved controlling corpses, but they were very primitive and backward, not worth a second glance.

Then, about a hundred years ago, there was a half-blood wizard who, based on the newly emerging “scientific theories” of the Muggle world, managed to revive corpses, something called Frankenstein.

But it later caused a big stir in Muggle society, leading to a warrant from the International Confederation of Wizards, and both the wizard and the resurrected corpse were dealt with.

That scientific magic resurrection art was lost.

But what kind of method did Ryan use?

Large-scale, effortlessly performed!

He could even create powerful undead with various special abilities.

And they were all under Ryan’s control, like countless small insects on a web, forming a whole with Ryan as the center!

This was too terrifying!

Not only did Voldemort feel uneasy and dare not turn against him, but even Little Barty, who always believed “impossible, my master is invincible,” felt a pang of doubt.

Hence, this cunning scheme of “driving a wolf to devour a tiger” and “killing with a borrowed knife” was born! He planned to make Ryan clash head-on with the entire magical world!

Indeed, Little Barty “accidentally” leaked the news that there were six million skeletons under Paris to Ryan. Ryan, who commanded the power of death, immediately became sensitive to the information. After detailed questioning, he finally decided to take his two incompetent subordinates to Paris!

Although many skeletons might be too old to be utilized, even if only a million skeletons could be raised, he would be invincible!

While Ted was studying with Nicolas Flamel, the three of them had already found some nearby hippie youths, controlled them with the Imperius Curse, and led them underground.

One has to say, the French are truly strange!

Logically, wouldn’t you stay far away from such a place?

Yet, there was a large group of rebellious youths who were eager to explore this place.

The stone tunnels were covered in colorful graffiti, sculptures made of various objects, and even some “secret bases”!

Some people even held music parties here!

When they encountered Ryan and his group, they thought they were there for a costume party. They laughed, clapped, and pulled them along, and some even offered marijuana cigarettes.

Ryan was furious!

He didn’t hold back; everyone he encountered was directly turned into a zombie.

You like parties, don’t you? You like to dance, don’t you? From now on, you’re the Zombie Dance King!

As for you? You’re the Zombie Weed King!

Finally, they reached the lowest level, where countless withered bones covered the ground, and the surrounding walls were neatly stacked, forming bone walls dozens of feet high, reaching from floor to ceiling…

Although many bones couldn’t be used directly, in Ryan’s eyes, even bone fragments had value.

So, they began to get busy.

Just as Ted was contacting Dumbledore and preparing a funeral for the Flamels, the three of them had been busy for three days, and the ritual finally began.

As Ted and Dumbledore chatted by the river, a group of skulls deep underground glowed with eerie blue ghostly flames, and the entire Paris region subtly trembled!

…

When the earthquake in Paris first started, it was afternoon, but tremors, both large and small, continued to occur until late into the night.

Many people dared not sleep in their houses and ran into the streets to inquire: Were those damned officials conducting some strange experiments again?

When too many people gather, chaos ensues!

The restless youths, gathering in large numbers, grew agitated. Masked figures, veiled faces, motorcyclists, firework launchers… In an instant, purse snatching, shop smashing, and even public streaking—all sorts of bizarre characters appeared!

As the saying goes, if you don’t steal, you’re not Italian; if you don’t rob, you’re not French.

Before the natural disaster even fully erupted, the man-made chaos on the streets had already begun as a toast!

Various police and fire departments, even mounted police, were dispatched, creating quite a scene of cavalry charging through the ranks… Everyone who could be mobilized was mobilized, but there were too many onlookers!

Due to the continuous “earthquakes,” everyone was standing in the streets, and it was impossible to tell who was who; it was a complete mess!

One has to say, France wasn’t much better than Great Britain! They truly were old friends who had loved and hated each other for over a hundred years~

While Muggle society here was in utter chaos, the wizarding world certainly couldn’t be doing well either.

To put it bluntly, the wizarding world relies on the ordinary human world; the former cannot exist without the latter.

Besides, various governments already had connections with the wizarding world, were aware of its existence, and even had liaisons with each other.

These strange tremors, were they caused by magic? Speak up!

The French Ministry of Magic immediately dispatched personnel to investigate while issuing a triple denial: No, not at all, don’t talk nonsense!

The result of the investigation: Holy cow, it actually was related to magic!

The magical reactions beneath Paris were almost comparable to controlled nuclear fusion!

This clearly indicated someone was causing trouble!

At this point, experts from the French government also concluded that the earthquake’s epicenter was about a hundred meters below Paris!

They knew their own affairs best, especially since they had opened less than two kilometers of the underground catacombs for tourists this year.

Now, Muggle experts were asking if developing the tour had angered the vengeful spirits, suggesting they should close it immediately!

Officials from the Ministry of Magic were asking if developing the tour had damaged the underground structure and caused it to collapse, urging them to close it immediately!

Before the Middle Ages, wizards often served kings. Ultimately, they were often persecuted for losing the king’s trust.

In today’s Muggle world, “experts” have replaced the status of wizards, but the essence of relying on power has not changed at all.

In short, it was all bickering!

But after about two hours of bickering, the “earthquake” intensified!

Moreover, the zombies that Ryan had casually resurrected, following their habits from life, stumbled out of the various hidden exits of the underground maze!

Initially, the nearby hippies and hooligans thought it was some new kind of costume party. A group of them praised, “Dude, your costume is awesome! I really want to take a picture with you!”

Then they leaned their heads in. The zombie was startled: No one had ever been so proactive!

Then it opened its mouth and took a bite, tearing off half of the person’s face amidst screams…

Lively! So lively!

If one were to look down from above, they would see that this city, known as the city of romance, had demons dancing wildly in every street and alley, bustling with activity~

(End of chapter)