"Are you certain you saw nothing?" Madame Perenelle asked, taking the crystal ball and looking at Shirley with a grave expression.
Shirley shook her head blankly. "It was just a blurry white mist," she explained softly. Hesitating for a moment, she continued, "Based on what you've told me, if a prophecy comes to be, the crystal ball should record everything..."
"But the way it feels right now, it's as if some power has completely concealed the prophecy."
The crystal ball grew dim in Madame Perenelle's palm. She frowned, observing the surface as the soft glow vanished. She didn't speak for a long time.
Just then, a sleepy Adam collapsed onto the table with a "thud," startling Shirley. "Ouch... so tired..." he mumbled, covering his face. He then realized that Shirley and Madame Perenelle were looking at him strangely. The two of them exchanged a glance and refocused on the crystal ball.
After a long silence, Madame Perenelle said in a gentle tone, "Neither the crystal ball nor the prophecy is at fault." She handed the crystal ball back to Shirley and added, "Try to make a prophecy about me, perhaps something that will happen in a few minutes. Just use the method I taught you today and focus on the crystal ball."
Shirley nodded seriously, cradling the crystal ball and quietly muttering to Madame Perenelle. This time, a soft glow appeared quickly, making her little face seem mysterious.
"I see you laughing softly with your hand over your mouth," a puzzled voice from the young witch came. "And I was... chasing Adam?" Her expression grew even more confused, and she turned to look at Adam.
Adam's motion with his little spoon froze. Meeting Shirley's eyes, he quickly ate the last bit of cake in one bite, accidentally knocking over his empty pudding cup in the process.
The light in Shirley's eyes instantly vanished. She seemed to turn grey, her gaze fixed on the space in front of her. "...That was my cake and pudding! I was saving them for last!"
"Don't run! You stop right there!" A mournful cry echoed through the living room. The young witch, who had been so careful with her manners since arriving, completely lost all decorum and chased Adam all over the room. Nicolas, who had just stepped out of his workshop, looked at the scene with a puzzled expression. Madame Perenelle laughed, covering her mouth, but a hint of worry flashed in her eyes as she glanced at the crystal ball.
Over the rest of the Christmas holiday, Adam spent two days in the workshop with Nicolas, attempting to analyze the runes on Slytherin's locket. Each time, he failed. Nicolas suggested Adam go to the library, where he kept books and manuscripts from his youth, which might inspire him.
"Using the range of a spell's influence to determine if an alarm is triggered..." Adam set down a manuscript and mumbled, looking confusedly at his wand. "That concept is far too vague. How would it even work in places where there aren't many people?"
The manuscript in front of him was one Nicolas had written in 1874, a paper on detecting magical fluctuations in a given area. Coincidentally, less than a year after this paper was published, the Ministry of Magic enacted a new law: the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery Act. They claimed that an invisible charm called the Trace would be placed on every underage wizard. This charm could detect magical fluctuations and automatically record the time and location of a spell. It would then send an alert to the Improper Use of Magic Office and create a magical trace for subsequent investigation. Any underage wizard who cast a spell in an unauthorized area would receive an official warning from the Ministry, and repeat offenders would be sent to the Wizengamot. The Trace would automatically wear off when the wizard turned seventeen.
Adam frowned, carefully examining his wand. Neither the body nor the core showed any sign of a charm being attached. He mentally dismissed the idea that the Trace was on the wand. If that were the case, other underage wizards could simply switch wands to easily avoid Ministry detection. As for the possibility of the Trace being on a wizard's person...
In the next instant, Adam found himself in the Other World, where he saw Gryffindor fishing by the lake. He raised his hand and tossed him two boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "Is there any tracking spell, contract, or curse on me?" Adam asked bluntly.
"Have you been targeted by a dark wizard?" Gryffindor frowned, picking up his sword from the ground. Its rubies glowed faintly as he looked Adam over. "From what I can tell, you don't have anything on you, and you've been using that spell Rowena taught you, so your soul remains clear..."
Having received his answer, Adam left the Other World without a second glance and sat back at his desk, staring blankly at the manuscript. His eyes fell on the last few lines of the paper, where Nicolas had written: Since 1870, nearly every wizarding household's fireplace has been connected to the Floo Network. Over a thousand fireplaces across the United Kingdom, including those in the Ministry, wizard pubs, and shops, are all part of the network.
Adam suddenly realized a possibility: the "Trace" might just be a ruse the Ministry uses, and it might not even exist. The Ministry's monitoring of underage wizards could be based on the Floo Network system, detecting magical fluctuations in an area. This would explain why, when a young wizard is with an adult wizard, the Ministry can't tell who is casting the spell.
"So, all I have to do is make an alchemical item that blocks magical fluctuations, and I should be able to get around the Ministry's monitoring..." Adam carefully finished reading the paper, jotting down his ideas on parchment. Time passed as he worked.
On the last day of the Christmas holiday, Nicolas pulled Adam into the workshop. Confused, Adam looked at the locket, which was exactly as it had been when he left days ago. "I thought you would have destroyed this Horcrux by now," he said.
"It's not that simple," Nicolas replied, shaking his head and pointing to the thick pile of parchment drafts on the table. "Horcruxes have appeared very few times in history. The first known Horcrux was made by the ancient Greek dark wizard, Herpo the Foul."
"And with the unique nature of Slytherin's locket, I need to find a stable and safe method."
"What if we don't destroy the soul, but transfer it instead?" Adam asked, raising his hand.
"That's certainly possible," Nicolas answered immediately. "It would be like making a new Horcrux. I considered that on the first day, but quickly abandoned the idea. You see, splitting a soul requires murder..."
"But what if we have some already prepared?" Adam pulled a full bottle of potion from his small pouch. This was the liquid he had collected from the cave. The liquid, a manifestation of the malice from murder, was likely from the Inferi. As long as the souls of those specific Inferi were trapped in their bodies, the fluid would continue to gather in that stone basin.
"You never told me about this, Albus," Nicolas said, turning to a mirror on a stand.
"My apologies, Nicolas. In fact, I was just about to tell you, as it involves the deeds of a hero," a gentle voice came from the mirror. Adam looked in the direction of the voice and saw Dumbledore's face appear in the mirror. When he noticed Adam's curious gaze, he gave him a little wink. "I've been trying to contact you with the Two-Way Mirror for days, but you seemed not to notice."
Dumbledore then told the story of Regulus Black. Before the conversation ended, he said he had already told many old friends about it and hoped Nicolas would pass the message on to others.
"It seems I'll have to send you back to Tina's early, or would you like to go straight back to Hogwarts?" Nicolas asked.
"Could I go somewhere near King's Cross Station? Or even a bit farther away?" Adam asked, holding up a black medal. The intricate carvings on it gave off a faint glow.
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