Ancient Magic: Shield
The scene of encountering the Runespoor snake seemed to appear before Vizette's eyes.
A silver-blue light enveloped his entire body, and a spherical barrier appeared, enveloping him and Hagrid.
"That reporter was clearly not actually there," Vizette said softly, pulling his index finger and thumb outwards.
The barrier immediately expanded outwards, stopping just in front of the black-robed wizard.
Vizette gave a cold laugh and said loudly, "I drove the Runespoor into a corner, and then used this magic to crush it bit by bit... Want to try it?"
"Of course, you can try to resist. I can still control my power now, but if I unleash the Obscurus... it's hard to say what will happen!"
He looked around. "This location is great, it's all in a straight line. If I stay here, I'm sure I can perform exceptionally well."
Not only was the black-robed wizard sweating profusely, but his three companions were also sweating profusely.
"Boss... this magic isn't that powerful, is it?"
"Let's go! Are you saying the four of us can't beat the two of them?"
"Is he trying to scare us? The Obscurus are fake, right? I don't even know what they are!"
...
The black-robed wizard was greatly annoyed by his companions' clamor.
He snapped, "Shut up! Even if the Obscurial's identity is fake, and the staffless spellcasting is fake, how many brats have you ever seen who can cast staffless spells?"
He tossed the newspaper to his companions, "Take a look for yourselves! Don't just think about climbing the ladder without knowing anything!"
He now deeply regretted it; he should have driven the Obscurial away, otherwise he wouldn't be facing this situation.
The silver-blue shield magic continued, and the black-robed wizard could only grit his teeth and ask with extreme resentment, "What exactly do you want?"
Vizette chuckled and took two steps forward. "I just want to go home, a very simple wish."
The black-robed wizard and his companions immediately retreated more than ten steps, pressing their backs against the still-sleeping three-headed dog.
Judging from their behavior, they already knew what the Obscurials were and what Vizette had done before.
Thanks to Rita Skeeter, this sensational reporting in official channels allowed Vizette to achieve the desired effect without much explanation.
"Oh, and this three-headed dog, how much were you planning to sell it to Hagrid for?"
"You're still willing to buy it?" the black-robed wizard exclaimed in surprise. "Four hundred Galleons! This three-headed dog is still a cub, its eyes aren't even open yet!"
Vizette glanced to the side. "Hagrid, is the Cerberus puppy worth this price?"
His knowledge of Cerberus mainly came from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
The book mainly mentioned precautions for handling Cerberus; as for the price, you'd have to rely on the gamekeeper at Hogwarts.
Hagrid nodded repeatedly, "Of course it's worth it! It's an amazing deal! I've never seen such a good price when I was traveling in Greece!"
"See!" The black-robed wizard breathed a sigh of relief. "We will definitely not raise the price at this level!"
Vizette looked at Hagrid speechlessly. They were in the dominant position now and should have acted more assertively.
Perhaps it was because wizards in the magical world were relatively simple-minded?
Or was Hagrid simply more naive?
Four hundred Galleons was no small sum. Vizette's shrewd calculations kicked in. "This price is clearly unreasonable. This isn't Greece."
The black-robed wizard immediately looked at him and asked nervously, "What do you want to say?"
Vizette said calmly, "As far as I know, the Cerberus is a dangerous and rare magical creature. Buying one is quite a hassle!"
"Besides the purchase price, there are various procedures to go through. Even following the normal purchase process takes a lot of time... do you understand?"
This came from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which provided a brief introduction to adopting a Cerberus.
"Uh..." The black-robed wizard decided to play dumb and shook his head repeatedly, "I don't know! This price is really a great deal!"
He frantically winked at Hagrid, "Big guy! Say something! It's a cub! Don't you want to be the owner of this little...cute little thing?"
"Oh..." Hagrid let out a long snort, but didn't reply. He looked down at Vizette, as if to say, "I'll listen to him."
Vizette flashed a peace sign. "Two hundred Galleons, that's the highest price we're offering."
"Two hundred Galleons!" the black-robed wizard yelled. "You might as well just kill us! How can you possibly pay that price!"
"Good idea!" Vizette stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "Such a dark alley… is indeed perfect for this kind of thing."
"Vizette!" Hagrid exclaimed, startled. "You must calm down! You're a good boy!"
The black-robed wizard was also quite frightened. "That's right! The big guy isn't wrong! You must calm down! Let's discuss this again!"
Vizette waved his scissor hand. "Two hundred Galleons."
"Three hundred and ninety Galleons! That's our bottom line!"
"190 Galleons. If you had any bottom line, you wouldn't have taken me hostage in the first place."
"You..." The black-robed wizard was now even more regretful, and weakly lowered the price, "Three hundred and eighty Galleons, I can't go any lower!"
Vizette smiled calmly, "One hundred and seventy Galleons. Judging from your clothes, you've probably been sleeping in the open for a long time, haven't you?"
"Did you commit a crime in Greece? Is that why you brought Cerberus here to hide? This money should be enough for you to live on for a while, right?"
"Besides... Hagrid is the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Only a place as big as the grounds can provide a comfortable living space for Cerberus. Understand?"
The black-robed wizard seemed to have been hit where it hurt, his voice shrill like chalk scraping against glass, "But you can't keep lowering the price! Who bargains like that?"
"One hundred and fifty Sickles!" Vizette said calmly. "I told you, the bottom line can be lowered… especially when dealing with people like you."
...
As the moon hung high in the sky, Hagrid, grinning from ear to ear, carried Cerberus and led Vizette back to Diagon Alley.
"Vizette, thank you so much today! Without you, I probably wouldn't have made it out of Knockturn Alley!"
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a beautifully embroidered cloth bag. "That really scared me! They even tried to search me, and I didn't want them to take this!"
This was why Hagrid had refused to let them search him—Vizette had temporarily entrusted his wallet to him.
If Hagrid had ulterior motives, Vizette wouldn't have received 500 Galleons, since the Runespoor snake had been brought by him.
At least in terms of character, Hagrid was a trustworthy person.
Moreover, Hagrid's cloak had magic resistance, which could resist ordinary theft magic, so having the money on him made Vizette feel more at ease.
Seeing that Vizette had taken the wallet, Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a relaxed tone, "What do you think this little cutie should be called?"
Vizette looked at the still-drowsy Cerberus and shrugged. "I don't know... I'm not very good at naming things, but looking so fluffy, it is... cute, isn't it?"
Hagrid's eyes lit up. "Yes! A fluffy little cutie, how about we name him Fluffy?"
He reached out and stroked the three-headed dog's back, his tone full of affection, "Fluffy, what do you think?"
Perhaps Hagrid's call had an effect, for the three-headed dog, Fluffy, grunted and slowly opened its eyes. "Woof?"
However, the first person Fluffy saw when Hagrid carried him on his shoulder was not Hagrid, but Vizette, who was pulling a small cart behind him.
"Hagrid... your Fluffy is awake."