Outside Knockturn Alley, the few dark wizards who had previously lured Charle in were now fleeing, bruised and limping, their faces a picture of dejection.
They had originally planned to make a fortune off Charle, this fat sheep, and live the life of wealthy wizards.
But they never expected that this wasn't a fat sheep at all, but a tiger in sheep's clothing!
Not only did they fail to make any money, but the three precious materials they had bought with mortgage loans were snatched by Charle, even their wands were taken, and they were now ostracized by other dark wizards.
The day of reckoning with Gringotts was fast approaching. If they couldn't come up with the money to pay off their debts, they knew without a doubt that those goblins would squeeze every last drop of value out of them for the rest of their lives!
The few dark wizards looked at each other.
"What do we do now?"
"It looks like we can't stay in the British wizarding world. I heard Gringotts is as cruel as ice and snow to wizards who owe them money!"
Just as they felt they were at a dead end, the leading middle-aged dark wizard gritted his teeth and said,
"I know a rumor that might turn things around for us."
Everyone's eyes turned to him. The middle-aged dark wizard continued,
"I heard there's a legend in the wilderness of North Scotland."
"The legend says there was a pair of wizard grave robbers who specialized in stealing treasures from tombs, living a rich life, and even enjoying grave robbing."
"Until one day, they dug up an ancient tomb and unearthed an exquisite magical necklace from it."
"It's said that the necklace was made of a magical metal never seen before, shaped like the fangs of some wild beast. Just looking at it would make you feel a chilling terror mixed with a magnificent beauty."
"Later, this pair of wizard grave robbers disappeared. Some say they had an internal conflict over the necklace and died in a duel, while others say there was a special magic on the necklace that drove them mad, and they took it to their own graves."
"But one thing is certain, that magical necklace is absolutely priceless!"
"If we can dig it out of the grave in the North Scotland wilderness, won't we turn things around?"
As soon as he said this, the other dark wizards also showed signs of being tempted.
A priceless magical necklace was their only chance to turn things around now.
The middle-aged dark wizard further encouraged them.
"A person can be unlucky for a while, but they can't be unlucky forever, right?"
"We've already hit rock bottom, there's nothing left to fear!"
A moment later, the few of them unanimously decided to go to the wilderness of North Scotland to search for the legendary magical fang necklace.
...
Meanwhile, in Diagon Alley.
The garbage truck squeaked and rolled on its own. Tonks, inside the truck, was jolted repeatedly and felt utterly hopeless.
Being tied up by a young wizard and shoveled away in a garbage truck like this, Tonks felt like she was having an incredibly absurd nightmare.
Charle, on the other hand, walked slowly beside the truck, looking quite leisurely.
But if you looked closely, you would notice that his fingers were tightly gripping the Mithril Wand, his knuckles appearing somewhat prominent and white.
Then, as if he had tripped, Charle stumbled. In reality, he used this opportunity to quickly turn around, pointing his wand at a shadow on the street.
"You've been following me all the way. Come out."
After a moment of silence, a figure wrapped in a large turban slowly emerged from the shadows.
A curious voice rang out.
"How did you find me?"
Looking at the figure, Charle's expression was extremely solemn.
Wearing a turban wrapped around the back of his head in this weather, this person's identity was also obvious.
It was Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who was possessed by Voldemort in the original story and broke into Hogwarts to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
Under that turban, on the back of Quirrell's head, was Voldemort's face!
Charle didn't know when Quirrell had started following him, but now he figured it was likely that Quirrell had also been in Diagon Alley earlier.
He had witnessed everything Charle did and then followed him all the way.
If Charle hadn't cast a Dust-Free Land Curse when leaving Knockturn Alley to completely eliminate the magical traces he left behind, which happened to cover the area where Quirrell was, and sensed that extremely suffocating and terrifying magical power, Charle wouldn't have discovered that there was such a person lurking in the shadows.
At this moment, Charle felt cold sweat gradually seeping out from his back.
He wasn't afraid of Quirrell; he was wary of Voldemort on Quirrell.
Although Voldemort was currently in a state of a remnant soul, far from his peak, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.
Even someone like Dumbledore didn't act rashly before fully understanding the remaining strength of Voldemort, so Charle was naturally very wary.
While tightly gripping his wand, Charle was already prepared to utter the Killing Curse.
He also felt a wave of relief.
It was a good thing he had previously deduced Apparition; otherwise, in this situation, if he couldn't win, he would truly be the fish on the chopping block, and the other person the butcher!
For now, at least, he could still run.
However, to Charle's slight relief, Quirrell didn't seem to have any intention of attacking, but instead applauded him.
"I saw you mistakenly enter Knockturn Alley earlier and was planning to step in and protect you, but then I realized there was no need at all."
"Mr. Charle, you are a Muggle-born wizard, and you haven't even enrolled at Hogwarts yet, but your mastery of Transfiguration has reached such a profound level."
"If we were at Hogwarts right now, I would add a hundred points to your house!"
After praising him, Quirrell revealed his identity.
"Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."
"I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor hired by Hogwarts this year. I was in Knockturn Alley earlier buying some materials for my classes, and I didn't expect to witness such an astonishing scene."
Then, Quirrell even blinked, as if trying to get closer to Charle.
"I won't tell anyone about what happened tonight. After all, everyone should have some little secrets, shouldn't they?"
And in the next moment, Quirrell's demeanor became even colder and more sinister.
He casually waved his wand, and a street lamp by the road turned into a thick python, coiled on the street, hissing.
This scene, falling into Charle's eyes, caused his pupils to shrink slightly, and he marveled in his heart.
It seemed that Voldemort, who was possessing Quirrell, had made a move. Was he showing off his strength?
Such Transfiguration was indeed superb.
Although Charle had initially deduced Transfiguration, his mastery was only profound compared to ordinary wizards. Compared to monstrous geniuses like Voldemort and Dumbledore, he couldn't even match their level when they graduated, let alone the current Voldemort.
Just the display of skill by Voldemort caused the deep blue prompt to sound in Charle's mind.
Host has obtained material for the Living Transfiguration branch of Transfiguration. The points required for secondary deduction in this direction have decreased.
This prompt made Charle's heart leap with joy.
Good heavens, he didn't expect that in his first meeting with Voldemort, he would receive a small gift?
As for why Voldemort would show off his Transfiguration mastery in front of him, Charle probably guessed that he wanted to tempt him, so that he would continue to seek him out after entering Hogwarts, and even help him steal the Philosopher's Stone.
He might even want to make him a hidden piece lurking beside Dumbledore.
And this made a thought surface in Charle's mind.
Opportunities to come into contact with wizards of Voldemort's level were not many.
Although Dumbledore had previously agreed to teach Charle more spells, that old bee was too wary of others and would set up tests at every turn, which was really not pleasant.
If he could see more advanced magic from Voldemort, the materials alone that Deep Blue could obtain would be enough to save Charle a lot of deduction points in the future.
However, Voldemort wasn't running a charity. Possessing Quirrell consumed his own power, and unless he was greatly provoked, he probably wouldn't display too much profound magic.
Was there any way to make Voldemort act impulsively?
Just as Charle was calculating, Voldemort, possessing Quirrell, spoke tempting words.
"Charle, your talent and aptitude are not something ordinary professors can teach you."
"But I happen to know some powerful magic, such as the Transfiguration you just saw. After school starts, you can come to me for guidance on any magic you need to learn."
"I, as a professor, never hide anything."
Looking at Charle, Voldemort was very confident, believing that this young wizard would definitely be unable to resist the temptation to seek him out.
How could a talented young wizard with such mastery of Transfiguration before even enrolling resist the temptation to learn more profound magic?!
At this moment, Charle's eyes lit up, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
Immediately, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.
"Ah, Professor, I thought you were going to teach me something, but it turns out it's Transfiguration."
Then, Charle lowered his voice and said.
"Then I'll tell you a little secret too. Headmaster Dumbledore has already promised me that he will personally teach me Transfiguration after school starts."
"The Headmaster also said that his Transfiguration is the strongest in the entire wizarding world."
"I also asked the Headmaster who was better at Transfiguration, him or the mysterious person, and the Headmaster said that the mysterious person wasn't even fit to carry his shoes."
"According to the Headmaster, many of the mysterious person's spells were actually plagiarized from his notes, and then shamelessly claimed as his own. It's simply utterly shameless!"
After Charle said these words, "Quirrell's" expression gradually stiffened.
"???"
"What?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore... the old Headmaster said that?!"
"Damn it, that's really shameless!"
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