After saying that, Fren carried Walker, who'd returned to his original form, past Adrian and Dougt, and walked toward the end of the street.
Adrian exchanged a glance with Dougt, then, becoming secretly wary, followed behind Fren.
At the end of the dilapidated street was a large house that looked fairly intact from the outside. Once inside, though, Adrian found it completely empty, with hardly anything in good condition.
Realizing these werewolves had been driven here from elsewhere, Adrian understood why they were living here.
What made Adrian somewhat relieved was the interior was fairly tidy, not as messy as he'd imagined.
It was nearing evening. Food bubbled in a large pot set up in the corner, white steam rising from it.
"You lot go finish your meal. I'll talk to them," Fren said to the other werewolf wizards after setting the unconscious Walker aside.
After dismissing the rest, Fren walked to a relatively clean spot and gestured for them to sit down and talk.
With the werewolf wizards no longer surrounding him, Adrian relaxed his tense nerves a little.
"Is this how you usually treat guests?" Adrian asked jokingly after finding a place to sit.
Compared to Fren, who remained indifferent throughout, Adrian could clearly sense the other werewolf wizards were on guard against them. After entering the house, they'd subtly formed an encirclement, almost making Adrian think they were about to attack.
"That's probably because you put too much pressure on them," Fren said casually.
Adrian raised an eyebrow noncommittally. If these werewolf wizards hadn't attacked him right away, he wouldn't have needed to use magical items to put on a show.
While they were chatting, the old werewolf witch came over with a large bowl and handed it to Fren.
Fren reached out and took the bowl, then turned to Adrian and the others. "Would you like some bread porridge?"
Adrian glanced at the large bowl in Fren's hand. A few pieces of bread floated on light soup without a trace of meat. There were some vegetable leaves of unknown kind. It was more like water with something added than porridge.
"Is this all you're eating?" Dougt asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"No, it'll only be a bit rough for the next month or two." Fren completely ignored their stares, picked up the bread soup, and drank it sip by sip.
"Cough, cough." Walker, who was lying to the side, suddenly opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. There were still some bruises on his face.
After coughing twice, Walker looked at Dougt and said angrily, "If you hadn't stolen our hard-earned savings, why would we be eating this rubbish every day?"
Savings? Adrian recalled the time Fren came for treatment. Dougt had extorted money from Fren, ultimately taking more than fifty Galleons from him.
So that's why. Adrian turned to look at Dougt with a strange expression, finally understanding why Walker had such a resentful look when Dougt announced his name.
Dougt showed no remorse. He looked at Walker and sneered, "Robbery? You'd better understand that was for treatment. If you think it's too expensive, you can choose not to get treated!"
"You!" Walker's face turned red with anger, his fists clenched tightly.
"Walker!" Fren interrupted in a deep voice, then looked at the still somewhat unwilling werewolf youth and scolded him. "If you hadn't sneaked out and lost control, breaking into someone's house, I wouldn't have been injured saving you. I thought the last experience had taught you enough of a lesson."
After being scolded by Fren, Walker lost his temper. His face drooped, showing both guilt and shame. He opened his mouth as if to explain but in the end said nothing.
Seeing his expression, Fren didn't say anything more and turned to the two of them. "I'm sorry. This lad acted a bit rashly. I apologize on his behalf. Please don't take it to heart."
Adrian waved his hand to indicate he wouldn't hold it against him. Dougt had no interest in arguing with a young werewolf.
"Let's get down to business then. What are you doing here?" Fren asked, puzzled.
"I'm currently developing a special potion that can solve the problem of you losing your minds after transforming into werewolves," Adrian thought for a moment, then stopped using Dougt as a cover. Since these werewolf wizards had a very poor impression of Dougt, he said it directly.
Adrian thought after he finished speaking, the werewolf wizards would be overjoyed. To his surprise, there was a moment of silence.
The other werewolf wizards, not far away, had actually been keeping a close eye on the situation.
When they heard Adrian, this young wizard, say he wanted to solve the werewolf problem, they initially wanted to refute his wild idea.
But the shock Adrian had given them was still fresh in their minds, so for some reason they had a vague feeling he might actually be able to do it.
This strange contrast made them very uncomfortable.
"So you plan to have us help with your research experiments? To be your test subjects?" Fren frowned.
Fren knew developing a potion formula was no easy task. Besides being time-consuming and laborious, the most important thing was someone had to drink the unfinished potions to confirm their effects.
Drinking an unknown potion was extremely risky. Anything could happen.
"No, I've almost finished researching the recipe. I just need a little blood as the key ingredient, your werewolf blood!" Adrian shook his head and said seriously.
That's why he'd come here. All the other ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion could be bought at the potions shop in Diagon Alley, but werewolf blood was the only one he couldn't buy.
In Adrian's view, the only way to gain the trust of the Ministry and the Order of Merlin was to first create the Wolfsbane Potion, let Dougt see the results, then have him vouch for it.
Otherwise, as a young wizard still studying at Hogwarts, even if he had the formula, the Ministry and the Order of Merlin wouldn't pay attention to him.
"You want our blood?" Fren narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Adrian, while Walker refused without hesitation.
"That's impossible! Who knows if what you're saying is true? I've heard many dark wizards can use a person's blood to perform curse spells."
Adrian wasn't disappointed. He stood up, looked around, lingered for a moment on the werewolf wizards' food and tattered clothes, and deliberately raised his voice so the other werewolf wizards could hear too.
"I didn't mean to ask you to help for free. How about this, three Galleons for a bottle of blood?"