harry potter book of crimes

It's still cloudy in London today.

The humid air makes people want to take off their clothes and twist them to see if they can get rid of the water.

The sun was completely blocked by the clouds, and only some gloomy morning light could be faintly revealed, announcing that it was another period of time that would be threatened by rain and fog.

Maka had just left the black market with Charlotte. At the moment, the two of them were walking aimlessly along the sparkling Thames River, stepping on the wet pavement bricks under their feet, watching the street lights go out one after another, as if

A little leisurely.

After a period of silence, Charlotte finally couldn't help but speak first.

"...Little brother, are you...really going to go against Voldemort?" She looked a little worried, and maybe a little self-blame.

But no matter what, it's not important to Maka.

"Why should I go against Voldemort?" He asked with a seemingly relaxed shrug.

The entanglement between him and Voldemort has long been unclear. The conflict between the two is like a bomb, which is destined to explode.

With Maka's efforts, the time bomb only dismantled the timing device and turned into a remote-controlled bomb that can be detonated at any time.

As for whether to hold on to the detonating device and use it as a trick, or to throw away the detonating device and use it as a landmine... To be honest, Maka still can't make a decision.

When he has a choice, he is not a person who makes decisions immediately.

However, all of this has nothing to do with Charlotte.

"By the way, senior sister, what are your plans next? I suggest you go to Hogwarts first to avoid talking!" Maka planned to put aside the previous topic in a brisk tone, but Charlotte did not follow.

His pace.

"But..." Charlotte pursed her lips and said uneasily, "Didn't you already promise grandpa to snatch the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort? You have signed a magic contract, and you have even borrowed three

This collection of books serves as a deposit..."

Maka smiled nonchalantly.

"The contract only said that after I seized the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort, the Witte family and I would study and use it together. But what if I didn't want to snatch it at all? What if the Philosopher's Stone was not in Voldemort's hands at all?

What will happen?”

There is one more thing he didn't say: In fact, the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed by Dumbledore long ago. Where can it be found again?

This deal was never established from the beginning. It was just the wishful thinking of the old head of the Witte family.

"This... you really don't tell the truth..." Charlotte was obviously shocked by Maka's deceptive methods. She never thought that someone could scare everyone with just one mouth.

But Maka smiled and shook her head.

All defensible lies are based on facts known to the other party.

Only when the other party recognizes the "true" part of the lie will they subconsciously connect the other part of the "false" with the "truth"; and only by letting the other party put the two parts together can they be convinced.

.

Everyone has a self-righteous side. The more confident and arrogant a person is, the more likely they are to commit this problem. Even Maca himself is not immune to this.

The two took a few steps forward, and Maka suddenly remembered a question from before.

"Senior sister, I have a question -" he turned his head and asked Charlotte, "The Witte family...or rather, why is a family with ancient wizard heritage so low-key? From what I saw today

Judging from the above, at least the Witte family is still very well-established, obviously they have deliberately hidden the influence of the family, right?"

This question was obviously difficult to answer. Charlotte thought about it for a long time and finally shook her head hesitantly.

"As far as I know, every generation of family heads in the family will strictly prohibit family members from acting in a public way. As for why...the head of the family only said that he abides by the family motto of a certain ancestor..." She said, after thinking for a while, she continued, "

However, the reason is definitely not that simple - it is rumored that there are two levels of secret rooms underground in the family mansion. The first level can only be entered by passing the test of the ancestors. Inside is the magic book "Abatail" that has been passed down by the Witte family for generations;

On the second floor, only family heads of each generation are allowed to enter..."

"So, if there is an answer, it must be in those two secret rooms?" Maka said thoughtfully.

"...and it's most likely on the second floor." Charlotte nodded and added.

After that, the two chatted casually for a few more words, and then Maka suddenly turned around.

"McLean, have you had enough time this evening? Leave the business to that sneaky guy while you mind your own business?"

The speaker was Mad-Eye Moody. After disappearing all night, he suddenly appeared behind Maka.

Maka greeted him with a smile, spread her hands indifferently and said: "Professor Moody, I am just using my time more effectively! Since Tarino's work level is good, then I must make the best use of it.

Okay, isn’t it?”

"As far as I can tell, you're just wandering around!" Moody said with a dissatisfied look on his face, leaning on his cane.

"Okay, I believe the werewolf thing will happen soon..."

Maka was only halfway through her words when she and Moody turned their heads and looked at a familiar figure walking out of the alley not far away.

"Look! The person reporting the results has arrived."

"Mr. McClain, there is good news!" Tarino quickly came to a few people and said with a smile, "I have found the current stronghold of the group of werewolves, and they will not change them at will for at least three days.

It’s time to reach the next stronghold. But..."

Having said this, he frowned again and said: "But Greyback is indeed not in the stronghold, and he has not left any news. His current whereabouts are unknown."

"Is the news reliable?" Maka asked immediately.

"Of course, the source of the information is a coward who wanders on the fringes of that group of werewolves. He was just expelled from the group some time ago. Now he is hiding in Tibet and is doing very poorly... I only used two gold Galleons to get it.

Little news.”

Tarino said, showing a proud smile.

"In that case, let's go there tomorrow night." Maka nodded clearly and handed the deposit receipt she got before directly to Tarino, "Go and cash it out yourself! Let's cash out the remaining half first.

If you don’t need to give it to me, just think of it as the reward I paid you in advance—there will definitely be missions in the future.”

"Put it on me!" Tarino patted his chest and said, "If you need anything, call Xin'er. I'll be there when you call me!"

"After all, it was stolen. It doesn't hurt at all to spend it, right?" Moody said sarcastically as he watched Tarino leave.

"It's better to spend the ill-gotten gains as early as possible. It's a bit hot to keep in your hands!" Maka said jokingly.

"Junior brother...what's the ill-gotten wealth? Can you tell me about it?"

The three of them, covered with morning dew, drifted further and further away under the hazy morning sun, and finally disappeared at the end of the street.

…

When Maka and the three returned to Hogwarts, the little wizards were already having dinner in the Great Hall.

The injury on Hermione's hand was getting better, but her mood still seemed to have not recovered. Ron on the side glanced at her from time to time, and opened his mouth several times in a row, but could not say a word.

On the other side, at the long Slytherin table, Willy was eating breakfast and looking through her notes carefully.

During this period of time, she had been writing and drawing in the notebook. Although she would still be dazed for a while as usual from time to time, she obviously spent much more time in the notebook.

When there was no class, she would go somewhere else alone and disappear for most of the day.

It just so happened that Slytherin had no classes scheduled for this morning. After slowly finishing her breakfast, she walked toward the astronomy tower with her notebook in hand and a handbag in her hand.

The wind was not bad today, so she did not go to the top of the tower, but sat down on a piece of parchment in an open space inside the tower.

Immediately afterwards, she took out many things from her handbag one after another. Looking at the tools inside such as test tubes and crucibles, she seemed to want to do some potions exercises.

However, Willie is not a person who is good at doing these delicate tasks. On the contrary, every move she makes seems a bit clumsy.

Before doing each step, she would carefully look down at her notes before proceeding with it practically.

One hour, two hours...

Time passes quickly, but failure comes even faster.

When the test tube exploded due to errors in some steps, Willy still packed it up with an expressionless face, and then tried again without any discouragement.

It was not until almost noon that she packed up all the tools on time and recorded some of this experience in her notes.

When everything came to an end, she silently went downstairs again and went to the auditorium to have lunch.

I don’t know since when, this kind of life has become Willie’s daily life. Calm, regular, and step-by-step, as if she has always been doing this.

And today, Maka, who had just come out of the principal's office and was about to go to the auditorium to have lunch, finally noticed a sign in Willy.

"Willie?"

Maka stopped the quiet girl who was walking towards the stairs with her handbag.

"...Maka?" Willie turned around, then stopped and looked at him calmly.

"Your sleeves are torn." Maka pointed to the sleeves of her robe that were a bit too long, "Also, here are some...is this a thickening agent?"

He stretched out his hand and twirled Willy's sleeve, then put it under his nose and smelled it, and he immediately identified what the sticky thing was.

"What magic potion are you refining?" Maka asked curiously.

Willy raised her head, looked at Maka, blinked, and then said softly: "Practice... is difficult."

Her words were concise as always, but at least this time she expressed her meaning very clearly, so that Maka wouldn't have to guess too much.

"I remember... you don't seem to be good at potions, right?" Maka thought for a while and asked, "Do you need my help?"