Before dawn, Lily, who had been watching from the street corner, saw Lupin come out of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. She did not follow him. She only ate two chocolate chip cookies, stuffing her cheeks until they bulged, then took a sip of instant hot coffee.
Lupin walked away.
After a while, the sun rose over London's city skyline. Garbage trucks appeared, the homeless woke up, and a few pedestrians appeared on the streets. Four small shadows also slipped out of the Black family home.
The coffee in Lily's hand was nearly frozen. She cast a warming charm on herself, lowered her head, pulled her hood tight, and followed the four young wizards from a distance.
Halfway there, the four split into two groups. Harry and Neville went together, preparing to investigate the wizarding community, while Hermione and Ron went together to search for clues in the Muggle world.
Harry and Neville first went to the Leaky Cauldron. After they left, Lily seized the opportunity and walked in. There were only a few customers inside at the moment. Last night, there seemed to have been a wild celebration. Confetti was scattered across the floor, along with dried wine stains.
The pub owner sat on a stool behind the counter, hunched over like a beetle hoarding bottles of alcohol. Whenever he saw someone, he showed an ugly but kind smile.
Lily smiled and greeted him. "Hello, sir."
"What'll you have, beautiful lady?"
"A margarita. Has anything interesting happened recently?"
The owner chuckled. "I saw Harry the Savior just now, along with the Longbottom boy."
"Then I truly have terrible timing. I like Harry very much. In fact, I'm an admirer of his... But it's Christmas. Why isn't he spending the holiday at home with his friends?" Lily leaned against the counter, propping her cheek on one hand and putting on a deeply interested expression.
The red-haired witch's gaze was like a pair of hands asking for candy. Anyone who saw it would feel the urge to talk.
"They seemed to be looking for someone. They asked whether I had seen any suspicious strangers hiding their faces."
"Oh? And how did you answer?"
"Margarita." Tom brought the cocktail to her and smiled subtly. "I told them that four weeks ago, there was a wizard who had wrapped his face in bandages. He said he had been disfigured by expired dittany potion. After arriving, he did not order anything and just sat in that corner waiting for someone."
"What a pity. He should have tried your bartending. That is a tremendous loss." Lily only took a light sip before setting down the glass. She had not really drunk any of it, but her eyes looked utterly sincere.
The owner was very pleased. He lowered his voice and said, "That man waited until late at night, then took the initiative to help a drunken customer leave. After that, I never saw either of them again."
Lily exclaimed, "You mean?" She looked left and right, then softly voiced her guess. "A murderer? A Dark wizard?"
"Very likely, ma'am. I mean, close enough to certain. I advised Harry and the others to be careful while out and about, and not to go to Knockturn Alley. There are no good people in that sort of place."
"Thank you. That is very interesting news." Lily left five silver Sickles, then got up and hurried toward Diagon Alley.
She searched for traces of Harry and Neville, but could not find them anywhere. Her heart jumped, and she guessed that those two ridiculously bold boys had gone to Knockturn Alley.
That place was not safe. Many illegal transactions took place there, and true Dark wizards often appeared.
Lily stormed toward Knockturn Alley, praying that her son and the Longbottom child would not be torn to pieces by those malicious people.
Harry and Neville saw Lupin come out of Borgin and Burkes, his brows tightly furrowed. From the look of it, he had not made any progress.
"Should we go in, Harry? That place is pretty dangerous," Neville reminded him. He was nervous and kept taking deep breaths.
"How is your Apparition practice going?"
"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
"Trust yourself, Neville." Harry looked at his companion with concern.
Neville took a pendant from his pocket and hung it around his neck. His eyes instantly steadied.
"What's that?" Harry froze for a moment. "Is there a Courage spell enchanted onto that pendant?"
"That's right. Mage J'zargo gave it to me," Neville whispered.
Harry paused slightly, then asked calmly, "You joined his classroom?"
As early as last year, the clever and studious Hermione had already been accepted as an apprentice by Brelyna Maryon. Not long after that, Ron followed Mage Onmund. The Khajiit mage J'zargo felt that he also needed an apprentice, so he found Neville Longbottom.
Of the four, only Harry was still alone.
Neville saw a faint loneliness in his friend's eyes. He himself was a child who had often been hurt, so he was very sensitive to other people's negative emotions.
"Harry, Master J'zargo said you can join his classroom anytime," Neville said carefully. "He actually likes you more."
"There's no need to comfort me. You should have told me this good news earlier." Harry smiled. "Really, this is a good thing."
"Then... do you want to follow Master J'zargo?"
"You know me, Neville. I only want to follow Mr. Skyl." Harry reached out and patted Neville on the shoulder. "All right, let's stop talking nonsense here. Use the Disillusionment Charm to hide yourself and follow behind me."
Neville obeyed without hesitation and silently cast the Disillusionment Charm. His body immediately disappeared. Harry still felt that it was not hidden enough, so he took out the Invisibility Cloak and draped it over him.
Harry pushed open the door and entered Borgin and Burkes. The invisible Neville followed close behind him.
The shop owner, Borgin, was a hunched wizard with greasy hair and sloppy robes. From behind the counter, he called loudly, "Welcome!" He stared hesitantly at Harry's face, seeming to recognize the famous boy.
Harry looked around. The shop was gloomy and filled with many Dark magical objects.
"The things here don't look very legal." Harry saw materials made from human bones and narrowed his eyes. No joy or anger could be seen on his young, handsome face, but that expression was exactly like Lily Evans whenever she was angry.
"Are you here to cause trouble?" Mr. Borgin's face darkened. "Then I am very sorry, but even the Ministry of Magic cannot find so-called illegal items in my humble little shop. Every single product here has a business permit."
"What a shame. I happen to like illegal things." Harry grinned, his smile bright and sunny. "Do you have any magical items here that can detect invisibility?"
"Worried about an invisible thief picking your pocket? Or worried about an unseen dagger stabbing you? Then you should prepare this revealing crystal. The Disillusionment Charm has nowhere to hide before it." Mr. Borgin took out a crystal ball and demonstrated its use. After he activated the crystal ball, Harry felt a light breeze pass over him.
Neville remained invisible.
Harry's smile became even more satisfied. He changed the subject and asked, "Has someone with his face wrapped entirely in bandages come here in the last month?"
Mr. Borgin said without changing expression, "I absolutely do not reveal customer information."
Harry took a stack of gold Galleons from his pocket, placed them on the counter, and casually counted them once. There were twenty in total.
Borgin's eyes went straight. He hurriedly changed his words. "There was one. He bought some materials from me."
"Can you tell me what materials he bought?"
"My memory is very poor. Perhaps you have some way to help me remember?"
Harry handed over the twenty Galleons. "Now, do you remember?"
"Of course, young sir. I remember everything. You truly are a miracle healer. He bought lacewing flies, leeches, powdered bicorn horn, knotgrass... That is all."
After hearing the first few ingredients, Harry already understood. These were ingredients for Polyjuice Potion. Wormtail intended to disguise himself as someone else.
He sincerely thanked Mr. Borgin for the information, then said, "Do it."
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Mr. Borgin only heard a soft incantation suddenly come from behind him. Then his whole body stiffened, and he fell rigidly onto the counter.
He stared at Harry with disbelieving eyes.
"You know too much." Harry took back nineteen of the gold Galleons, then pressed his wand against Borgin's head. "Imperio."
The Imperius Curse took effect, and Borgin's eyes became vacant.
Neville lifted the Body-Bind Curse.
Harry asked, "Did you lie to me just now?"
"No."
"Are there any objects or spells in the shop that leave images behind?"
"Yes. I open it whenever customers come in." Borgin nodded sluggishly, then took a crystal ball from under the counter.
"Erase the records inside."
Borgin obediently followed the order, his face glowing with a happy smile from beginning to end.
Harry pointed his wand at the shop owner's head again and said, "Obliviate!" Finally, he lifted the Imperius Curse, and Borgin collapsed limply to the ground, falling unconscious.
After dealing with all the traces, Harry stared with disgust at the Dark magical objects on the shelves that had been made from human materials.
"Should we destroy these things?" Neville asked.
"No. There might be curses on them. Tracking down Wormtail is more important. He bought potion ingredients, so he will definitely need a cauldron to brew the potion too. Let's go ask at Potage's Cauldron Shop nearby first."
They hurried out. Only Mr. Borgin, groaning in his dream, was left in the shop. A moment later, Lily crawled out from a cabinet in the corner, staring in shock and uncertainty at Harry's departing back.
"Merlin... the Unforgivable Curses... My child, who taught you this?"
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