Harry had received Victor Wick's "legacy," and the desire to resolve Victor's troubles for him grew stronger and stronger in his heart.
Professor Quirrell hadn't been seeking out Hermione much lately, which frustrated Harry and the others' plans to coax information out of him.
Hermione felt that perhaps Professor Quirrell was too afraid to leave his quarters after being threatened by Snape.
Considering Quirrell's cowardly nature, Harry and the others were in unanimous agreement that this was the case.
In the days that followed, besides delving into those two books, Harry also kept a close watch on Snape's movements in secret.
Unfortunately, ever since that night, Snape had reverted to being a hermit and hadn't stepped foot outside, leaving Harry feeling helpless.
He had no choice but to devote most of his energy to Victor Wick's books.
Naturally, he didn't keep the two books he'd received to himself; he shared them with Hermione and Ron as well.
Victor Wick had mentioned that he originally intended to spread his methods.
Since the professor had given him the books, it was implied that their little group was allowed to study them.
However, memorizing these two books was no simple feat.
Ron took just a couple of glances before his head began to spin, and he immediately went off to find someone to play chess with...
Although Neville also wanted to memorize them, his memory wasn't the best; he eventually had Hermione help him make a copy and studied diligently in private.
As for Hermione, it was much easier; memorization was her specialty.
Harry had to balance Quidditch training and wasn't as adept at handling homework as Hermione, so his progress wasn't as fast as hers.
One day, the group gathered together again.
Harry picked up his wand and tapped a matchstick lightly. The matchstick flickered with a faint light and transformed into an exquisite embroidery needle.
"Using Professor Wick's method for Transfiguration is indeed much simpler... it's just..." Harry looked at the embroidery needle with some hesitation.
"It's just that applying it so rigidly lacks flexibility for adaptation," Hermione added.
To turn a matchstick into a needle, they could naturally find the right letters from those Ancient Runes and construct the appropriate rune sequence for the transformation.
But by doing it this way, they truly lacked the means for flexible adaptation.
For example, Professor McGonagall could turn a podium into a grunting, fat pig at will.
But they would have to find the right letters and assemble the correct rune sequence before they could turn the podium into a pig...
Naturally, this would be much, much slower.
"How does Professor Wick solve this problem?" Harry wondered, furrowing his brow.
"Thinking about that now is a bit like trying to run before you can walk, Harry," Hermione said rationally. "Professor Wick can use this method so freely because he has undoubtedly mastered the fundamental content of these two books. To achieve the effect he wants, he can do it as easily as breathing..."
"But... is that really possible?" Harry looked at the dense, complex combination sequences and felt a sudden wave of anxiety.
"You're too impatient... In fact, you shouldn't look at this method as just a way to cast spells; rather, you should see it as a new language." Hermione pointed to a root word. "Once you're familiar with these combination rules, casting spells will be as simple as speaking."
Harry fell into thought upon hearing this...
"A language..."
He began to understand. English only has twenty-odd letters, yet it can be combined into countless sentences.
When it comes to speaking or writing... those words are all at their fingertips.
"You're right, I was being too hasty. We should indeed treat this method of casting as a new language to learn." Once Harry realized this, his mood brightened significantly. "Hermione, you're really brilliant."
Hearing Harry's praise, Hermione couldn't help but lift her chin slightly with joy, unable to suppress the smile playing on her lips.
"I should thank you too, Harry. If you hadn't bravely gone to see the professor, I wouldn't have been able to learn this content so soon. Anyway... let's keep going. Look at this phrase; every Transfiguration rune sequence relies on it. Perhaps we can categorize these phrases to make them easier to remember!"
With a true top student like Hermione there, Harry's progress quickened considerably.
Neville listened from the side and gained a great deal as well.
Only the carefree Ron was still dominating the Wizard's Chess board...
Borgin and Burkes.
Mr. Burke was sitting idly behind the counter, counting Galleons one by one.
For a Dark Arts shop like his, it was normal to have few customers.
It was the kind of business where one big sale could sustain him for years.
However, thanks to Victor Wick's support, he had been very busy lately, but it was a comfortable kind of busy. Any work that earned Galleons felt good, even if it was a bit exhausting...
It was just that lately, since Victor had become a professor, he hadn't come by to sell goods much, so Burke had reverted to his former state.
*Ding-ling-ling!*
The doorbell rang.
Two wizards, bundled up tightly, walked in. Such attire was very common in Knockturn Alley, so Mr. Burke wasn't surprised.
One of the wizards was tall and thin, while the other was short and stout—quite the contrasting pair.
"Welcome," Mr. Burke said, sweeping the Galleons off the table and putting on a very professional smile. "How may I help you two?"
Customers entering Borgin and Burkes were either buying or selling; asking this was standard.
In fact, he was quite hoping for another customer like Victor Wick.
Although he was a bit afraid of Victor, doing business with him was very pleasant because he was truly fair.
"I'm looking for someone," the tall wizard who entered first said coldly.
Though the smile on Mr. Burke's face didn't waver, he felt a twinge of disappointment.
After all, not every customer was as sensible as Victor Wick...
If Victor were looking for someone, he would definitely buy something first before asking for information.
"Who are you looking for?" Mr. Burke asked, despite his slight annoyance.
Information was something he sold as well, though sometimes he gave it for free and other times he charged a hefty sum of Galleons.
Like now—no matter what information these two wizards wanted, Mr. Burke intended to charge them a small fortune...
"Victor Wick."
"Who?"
"I made myself clear. I know you heard me, and I don't want to repeat myself," the tall wizard said haughtily.
Mr. Burke was a bit annoyed. He'd seen plenty of haughty customers, but most of them were pure-blood lords.
They might be arrogant, but they were generous spenders, so Mr. Burke never found their condescension unpleasant.
Instead, he felt it was only natural.
But these two, judging by their attitude, clearly seemed like they wanted something for nothing...
"Don't you know that Victor Wick is currently the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?"
Victor's current location was common knowledge; even his ex-girlfriends could find him. For these two to come here and ask him, just how long had they been out of touch with the world?
Such common knowledge wasn't worth much, and Mr. Burke had already lost interest.
"Where is he now?"
"He's at Hogwarts, of course. He's hardly going to be in my shop," Mr. Burke said, somewhat speechless.
He thought these two had something wrong with their heads. He'd already said Victor was a professor, yet they were still asking where he was...
"He can be in your shop, and he must be! As far as I know, you have frequent business dealings with him..." the short, fat wizard suddenly interrupted, his tone even more arrogant than the tall one's.
Mr. Burke suddenly began to understand what these two meant.
So they did know! They were just too afraid to go to Hogwarts, so they had come to find him...
However, Mr. Burke was annoyed by these two. "Victor Wick's current address is public knowledge. So, if you want to find him, you can perfectly well send him a letter by owl..."
"Don't play games with me! I know you understand what we mean!" the tall, thin man said coldly.
"As you said, Victor Wick and I have frequent business dealings... if I do what you're asking, how am I supposed to trade with him in the future?" Mr. Burke was nearly laughing with anger.
These two had spoken this long and hadn't offered a single Knut, yet they wanted him to call Victor over?
What benefit was there for him?
If Victor were ambushed because of him and managed to escape, whether Burke himself would survive afterward would be a serious question.
Even if Victor was wary of his current status and didn't want to retaliate, Burke could kiss any future business dealings with him goodbye.
Only a fool would agree to these idiots' demands.
"He won't be trading with you anymore because dead men don't do business," the tall man said coldly.
"I'm afraid I cannot help you," Mr. Burke said, shaking his head.
If these two had tossed a heavy bag of Galleons in front of him, he might have considered it.
But so far, they didn't seem to have any such intention...
In that case, there was no reason to offend a formidable person like Victor Wick.
"Is that so?"
The tall one and the short one both brandished their wands.
"Ha! You're planning to threaten me?" Mr. Burke almost burst out laughing.
He had run a Dark Arts shop in Knockturn Alley for decades without falling; how could he possibly have no tricks up his sleeve?
"Victor Wick is protected by Dumbledore and You-Know-Who; I wouldn't dare offend him. Just what kind of Mandrakes do you two think you are?"
"I'll ask you one last time: are you going to help us lure him out, or... are we going to have to tear your shop apart?"
The two wizards' wands began to emit a dangerous green glow.
Mr. Burke looked at the two wizards before him with a serious expression.
He'd made himself perfectly clear, yet these two showed no intention of backing down. That left only two possibilities.
First, they were ignorant bumpkins who didn't realize how terrifying the powers behind Dumbledore and You-Know-Who truly were.
Second, they really did have a power backing them that justified such arrogance...
Either way, Mr. Burke had to weigh his options carefully.
After all, this was his shop. Even if he wasn't afraid of them, he had to worry about his property being wrecked and his merchandise damaged.
"Are you really not afraid?" Mr. Burke made one last attempt to probe.
"Once we finish him, we're gone. No one will ever know who did it," the tall one said with total confidence.
Mr. Burke sighed. Well, anyone who could say something like that—these two were just bumpkins with a bit of backing...
These kinds of idiots were always the biggest headache.
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