"Mhm. They weren't weak, especially with that kind of bloodline power. They were hard to deal with." Norman nodded, sounding a little smug. "But they happened to run into me."
That was only because you had not run into Raven's real core members. Otherwise, the two of you would already be dead.
Leonard muttered that to himself, but did not say it out loud.
He was not exaggerating. Raven's crows could assist with ancient magic and could also use powerful transfer spells. Norman and Lehende alone could never have handled them.
"By the way, have you seen this before?" Norman took out a black object and held it out to Leonard curiously. "I found it on those two Muggles."
The moment Leonard saw what was in Norman's hand, his eyelid twitched.
Good lord. It was a handgun.
Britain was a country with strict gun control. The fact that those two Muggles had managed to get their hands on one proved they were no ordinary people...
"This is a Muggle weapon. Very dangerous." Leonard took the pistol from Norman's hand. Seeing nothing but curiosity on Norman's face and not the slightest bit of caution, Leonard immediately knew that Mr. Slughorn had not taken the words very dangerous to heart at all.
Leonard skillfully disassembled the pistol into a spread of parts across the table. At first his movements were a little rusty, but little by little he recalled the feel of it from his previous life, and his hands grew smoother and surer.
Then he quickly put the pistol back together, checked it, and said, "New gun. It hasn't seen much use."
"Oh? You seem pretty familiar with this Muggle weapon. Can you explain it to me?" Norman was interested now.
"What do you want to know?" Leonard glanced at Norman, whose face still showed no sign of concern.
"Then tell me how powerful it is. Can something this small really compare to a spell?" Norman asked.
"In terms of raw power, a handgun is actually pretty average. It can only kill people..." Leonard toyed with the pistol and very naturally slipped it into his pocket. "But it's fast."
Hey, hey... that's mine...
Norman had only gotten his hand halfway up before he looked at the young Leonard and let out a sigh. "Forget it. You can keep it as a toy, kid."
The moment he heard that it could only kill people, he lost interest. From the sound of it, this thing was not even as powerful as his magic.
"You said this thing is called a gun, right? It's fast? How fast can it be? Faster than magic?" Norman asked.
A gun versus magic in terms of speed?
Leonard's expression turned strange.
"Let me put it this way." Leonard looked at Norman, his gaze falling on Norman's heart, then on his forehead.
That look sent a shiver down Norman's spine.
"Beyond seven steps, the gun is faster."
"And within seven steps?" Norman pressed, doing his best to ignore Leonard's gaze.
"The gun is both faster and more accurate," Leonard said with a completely straight face.
"You've got to be joking. You mean Muggle weapons are better than magic?" Norman thought Leonard was joking around.
"It's not that magic is worse than Muggle weapons. It's that wizards are worse than Muggle weapons." Leonard made it sound almost like a tongue twister.
Magic's power and strange effects were of course stronger than many firearms, but wizards were still human. Hit a vital point, and they died.
And most importantly, an adult wizard's casting speed simply could not keep up with a well-trained mercenary.
Even if you shouted "Avada Kedavra," from the moment the spell formed to the moment it fired, a trained mercenary would already have enough time to shoot the wizard in the head.
That was unless the mercenary mistook the wizard for a lunatic, stood there watching him cast, and let himself be killed.
So what made wizards powerful was mystery. Once that mystery was gone, wizards were as fragile as paper in the face of modern society.
Even a legendary wizard like Dumbledore could be put in the ground by a single sniper rifle.
"This... this sounds way too absurd." Norman suspected Leonard was pulling his leg, and even Fleur looked completely incredulous.
After all, in the eyes of wizards, they were naturally superior to Muggles. Now someone was saying that wizards were helpless in front of Muggle weapons. It was enough to make anyone angry.
"When we get the chance, find an open place and try one of these weapons for yourself. Then you'll understand." Leonard knew there was no point trying to convince wizards with words alone. Only actual results placed in front of them would work.
"Anyway, take me to Lehende first," Leonard said. "I'm curious what the deal is with that Muggle."
"Forget the Muggles for now. Tell me more about the weapons." Norman was getting impatient. He did not really believe Leonard, but he was still very curious about Muggle weapons.
Were they really as miraculous as Leonard made them sound?
"Muggle weapons include far more than just these small firearms. There are plenty with greater power and much faster rates of fire. I'm guessing that Muggle had quite a collection. Enough to satisfy your curiosity."
"All right. He's at my house right now. Pack up and move in with me," Norman said. "My place is pretty big. It'll be fine for testing the guns you mentioned too."
"Then we..." Leonard was just about to agree when his expression changed sharply and he suddenly looked in one direction.
"What is it?" Norman asked in confusion.
"It feels like something's watching me..." Leonard was extremely sensitive to being watched, and he was sure that something had just been spying on him.
Norman immediately turned serious at that. He slowed his steps and quietly moved to the door.
There was no one outside. Norman shook his head at Leonard.
"Not outside. Inside." Leonard's gaze swept sharply across the room, silver light flickering in his eyes.
Then suddenly he noticed a faint point, a minuscule clump of magic that was almost invisible. Beneath that tiny point, though, was a large mass of gray magic hidden away.
An Animagus.
Without another word, Leonard fired a Reversion Spell at it. The spell pierced through the concealment magic like a needle, and the large mass of gray magic underneath was released and began to move.
To ordinary sight, it looked like a lump of person had suddenly grown out of an apparently empty patch of air.
"Ahhh... don't kill me! I didn't hear anything, I don't know anything!" A woman dressed all in green, with big curly hair and flashy jeweled glasses, suddenly appeared in front of them, shrieking.
Claudia, who had been asleep on the bed, woke up from the noise and looked at the woman in fright.
"Rita Skeeter?" Norman's face immediately darkened. "So you were actually..."
Before he could finish, Leonard lunged forward and slapped Rita Skeeter hard across that old face plastered with powder.