When Mr. Borgin returned to his shop, he could still hear the sounds of fighting not far away…
But the noise soon faded completely.
In Knockturn Alley, those who vanished because of such conflicts were quickly replaced, and everything returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
When Mr. Borgin noticed that Mr. Wick was standing in the street, stretching lazily, he understood that a few familiar faces in Knockturn Alley had disappeared for good.
"Poor fellows… but that's the way of Knockturn Alley."
To survive here, one needed not only strength, but also an understanding of how things worked.
If he had dared to make a move against Mr. Wick earlier, Borgin and Burkes might well have been renamed John Wick's shop by now…
Wade was busy breaking through the adjoining houses and clearing the scene.
Many dark wizards in Knockturn Alley were watching from the shadows, but none dared to act for the moment.
After all, everyone had seen just how formidable he was that morning.
Even Old Rep, a wizard of considerable strength, had not been his match.
The unfortunate man had not even managed to complete a single spell before being struck down and reduced to charred remains by a powerful atmospheric charm…
There were no good people living in Knockturn Alley, so Wade felt no hesitation.
He quickly cleaned up the aftermath.
In truth, house-elves were best suited for this kind of work.
But Wade had no intention of letting anyone know about this place, not even his own house-elf, Toby.
After all, although Toby was completely loyal, many things in the magical world were beyond one's control.
If someone were to forcibly use Legilimency on Toby, this location could still be exposed.
The possibility was small, but Wade was not willing to leave any loopholes.
Once the cleanup was nearly complete, Wade began casting the Fidelius Charm around the entire property…
The Secret-Keeper would be none other than himself.
The Fidelius Charm was an extremely complex advanced spell. The incantation alone was long enough to fill an entire foot of parchment.
The casting process had to be completed in one continuous flow, and required ample magical power…
Thanks to Wade's exceptional memory, even a spell of such length did not trouble him.
Ten minutes later, the area he had designated seemed to vanish from Knockturn Alley…
This disappearance was not physical. The houses were still there, but passersby would feel no interest in them at all.
It was as if they were simply passing by an ordinary tree…
It was as though the entire building had been erased from everyone's awareness.
Unless Wade personally led someone inside, even if a person stood directly beneath the address and stared at it, they would never realize this was the place they were looking for.
Only after confirming that the Fidelius Charm had taken effect did Wade let out a breath of relief and begin clearing out the clutter inside.
As for the belongings left behind by the dark wizards, anything useful was kept, while the rest was piled together and vanished with a single spell.
With the aid of magic, the tedious cleanup took only an hour.
After that, Wade spent another thirty minutes renovating the entire house.
Soon, the windows, walls, and floors were completely restored.
He also used the Extension Charm to expand the space even further…
Once everything was prepared, Wade began setting out his valuable instruments one by one.
"Good. From today onward, some interesting experiments can be carried out here…" Wade said with satisfaction.
By the time everything was finished, it was already evening.
Wade Apparated out of the house…
When he returned to the safe house, he had already restored his original appearance.
Everyone in Knockturn Alley who had seen him would only remember John Wick, not Wade.
This ability to alter one's appearance directly through Transfiguration required an extremely high level of mastery.
Grindelwald had once used this skill to infiltrate the Magical Congress of the United States…
For Wade, who had studied the techniques of many Transfiguration masters for so long, it was no difficulty at all.
He tossed his coin pouch, which had barely changed in weight, to Toby.
He had originally expected to spend a large number of Galleons, but the few hundred he had used were quickly recovered after dealing with a few dark wizards…
Who would have thought that Knockturn Alley could be such a wonderful place!
The people there were all so "talented," and they spoke so nicely… ahem.
Wade planned to produce a batch of goblin collars.
Whenever he needed manpower, he could simply capture them!
After all, Mr. Borgin had said that even people could be taken!
"Master Wade, you have received some mail today."
While Wade was having dinner, Toby respectfully brought over the day's post.
Since this was the safe house, all mail was delivered to the owl post office in Godric's Hollow.
Toby checked it every day to see if there was anything for Wade.
Wade flipped through the letters on top. They were greetings from various friends.
He set them aside for the moment and focused on a small box at the bottom.
The box was wooden, and the delicate lock on it caught his attention.
So far, he only knew one person who used goblin metal to craft locks.
Wade reached out and grasped the goblin-made lock. A trace of ancient magic flickered at his fingertips.
Click.
The lock opened smoothly.
Wade opened the box and saw a cube made of goblin metal.
Its surface was covered with dense, obscure Ancient Runes…
Beside the cube lay a thick book.
When Wade opened it, he immediately recognized his senior's handwriting.
"…Hmm."
Only then did Wade realize that the cube was the latest version of the residue converter.
And this thick book was actually the blueprint for it…
On the title page, he found a note left by his senior.
"We and the goblins can only go so far. This is as far as we can take it. The rest is up to you… As for what you mentioned before, about purifying the ancient magic within dark creatures, that is not something that can be completed in a short time. While you wait, you can try researching it yourself."
Wade stroked his chin, quietly studying the blueprint in his hands, a faint sense of unease rising in his mind.
Limited ability? Impossible. His senior was far too proud to say something like that.
If she truly said it, then it meant she and her goblins were working on something else.
Something more important than the residue converter and the purification of ancient magic…
The conversion of residue could indeed alleviate her condition, but the effect was slow and could never truly cure it.
Which meant… she was now attempting to research something that could completely eliminate her condition?
But if that were the case, why had she not told him the truth?
Wade tugged at his hair in frustration.
And on top of that, she had sent this box by owl instead of using nightmare magic.
Strange. This was far too strange…
However, Wade was no longer the same as before. He now possessed a vast amount of alchemical knowledge and had even established contact with Nicolas Flamel.
He was fully capable of continuing the research based on his senior's work.
Wade placed the book back into the box for the time being, then took out a mass of unrefined residue, preparing to test the new converter.
Suddenly, he felt the container holding the Obscurus begin to tremble violently.
Wade frowned, put the residue away, and released the Obscurus.
The Obscurus slowly spread into the air, then came to a halt, resembling nothing more than an ordinary patch of black mist.
Wade used nightmare magic to enter its mental space, taking control of all its senses.
In the next instant, he felt a sharp pang in his chest… as if something had happened to someone important.
Wade withdrew, his expression turning grave.
For the Obscurus to feel something like this, there could only be one possibility… Slytherin might have encountered some kind of trouble.
The magical garment Slytherin wore had been created by Wade using magic split from the Obscurus.
To the Obscurus, it was no different from its own offspring.
From the moment it was created, the garment had maintained a close connection with the Obscurus itself.
Otherwise, Wade would never have been able to use the Obscurus on his own body to communicate with Slytherin back then.
Now, although the distance was too great to establish direct contact, a faint sense of connection still remained.
"You really don't make things easy… where has that old man gone now?" Wade muttered, lightly brushing the mist before him.
The Obscurus drifting in the air suddenly stirred, and a thin strand of black mist extended northward like a thread…
"…Don't tell me that old man went to Northern Europe?"
There was no other choice now.
"Toby, I'll be heading out on a long trip tomorrow…"
…
"Whoosh… whoosh…"
It was already noon the next day.
Wade wore a pair of windproof goggles and rode a broomstick, speeding north.
With the war ongoing, all international Floo connections had been shut down.
In other words, there was no normal way to reach Northern Europe.
So Wade had gone to Diagon Alley to acquire the latest model of broomstick and was now flying north, guided by the Obscurus.
For long-distance travel, a broomstick was still necessary…
The journey was far too long. Even Wade could not rely on a flying charm the entire way.
Of course, a Thestral-drawn carriage would have been another option, but he did not have one, and it would be far too conspicuous…
"Damn it… old man, when I drag you back, you'd better make it worth my while!"
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