Chapter 144: Arc 4: Chapter 32: Dark Mark

Ten minutes later, at the entrance to Merlin's house, Merlin was seeing off the two senior wizards that had come for a late-night visit.

There was a wooden box levitating next to Essinus, in it was the old hag Umbridge who Goose had just spat out; she wasn't dead, but her condition was much worse than death.

She had Flerken gastric juice all over her body, the acidic juice created terrifying wounds on her body, though, these external injuries aren't much of a problem for a wizard.

But being thrown into a black hole-like stomach gave Umbridge quite the psychological impact.

When she was spat out, her eyes were sluggish, and was in a state of mental breakdown, she was pretty much a lunatic then.

She was very uncooperative, so Essinus had to knock her out using magic, tie her up, and put her into a special box.

Nxt to Essinus, the silent ye cold senior Auror Crow says to Merlin:

"According to President Samuel's arrangements, you need to inform your superior Mr. Nick Fury to wait patiently, someone will guide him to the Magical Congress headquarters in 7 days."

"Also, President Samuel has accepted your request for compensation."

Crow takes out a piece of folded paper from his pocket and hands it to Merlin, he then warns:

"This is the spell you wanted, but it's to be for your eyes only and must be destroyed after reading! You also can't randomly use this spell on normal people, it's not called an Unforgivable Curse for nothing!"

"It's just Crucio."

Merlin takes the paper and looks at it, a few seconds later, high heated fog arises from his fingers and burns the paper in front of Crow; he says:

"From what I know, all Aurors know of this spell, and the dark wizards use this spell like a common spell, so it's far from a secret."

"I had thought that you would want Avada Kedavra."

Essinus says in a low tone:

"It fits you more."

"That's for the future."

Merlin waves his hand at the two Aurors and says:

"It's hard to learn high-tier spells through self-learning, and I know the limits of my capabilities well. Speaking of which, I didn't see you ride on magic brooms, do you need me to escort you home?"

"We came by car."

Essinus takes out his car keys and presses on it, the sound of a car door being unlocked resounds from the darkness up ahead; he pulls his top hat and waves goodbye to Merlin, he says with a warning:

"I know some of the habits you agents have, and I want to say that we may be cooperating in the future, but leave our families alone! They know not of our identity and I don't want them to know either! If I find out, you..."

"Wait, where did you learn about agents?"

Merlin interrupts Essinus' warning and says:

"Who would risk offending a wizard to monitor some normal people? And which agent is capable of dodging your Revelio and Oblibviate? Don't think too much, friend, SHIELD is a defense organization, and we have the brains to not do something so foolish!"

Essinus was made awkward by Merlin's reply, the fat wizard says in a low tone:

"It's how it plays out in the agent movies those muggles made..."

"Alright, enough of that, we're leaving, have an early rest. Right, this is our number, remember it and give it a call if there's anything."

The fat wizard sends a slip of paper to Merlin, he sits in Crow's pickup truck, lowers the glass, and tells Merlin:

"Also, take good care of Mr. Potter, his identity is quite sensitive."

Merlin waves his hand and watches as the black pickup truck in front of him disappears into the darkness; he then turns and returns to his house, he sits on the sofa alone and begins to contemplate the information he had just received.

To be frank, he had learned quite a lot from the Aurors just now.

First off, a breakthrough has been made in the cooperation Fury had been seeking. From Essinus' words, the pressure faced by the North American Ministry of Magic is high, and they seem to also wish to reach an agreement with a powerful organization.

This means that as long as SHIELD maintains its suppression of all supernatural events related to magic, cooperation between both sides may be achievable.

Secondly, Constantine was right.

The Ministry of Magic had their eyes on him, and not just recently.

A few years ago, as Merlin was searching for wizards across the world, he had not noticed that the wizards were also secretly observing him at the same time.

And from the current situation, the Magical Congress of the United States of America still retains kindness to Merlin, this was good. But how long would their kindness last?

If things go down the worst path, and Merlin begins to demonify into a half-demon after collecting Trigon's shards of power, then eventually, Merlin would become one of the enemies the Magical Congress would seek to eradicate.

So under that kindness was a hint of wariness.

But the good news was, the wizards of North America were much more open compared to the old-fashioned British wizards, so maybe Merlin can find a way to permanently break the dark curse from them.

And lastly, which was the most important part.

In the dark living room, Merlin held the small cat Goose and closed his eyes, recollecting what the senior Auror Crow had said just now.

"There are powers beyond our comprehension affecting you!"

It was short, but its meaning was not so simple.

What Crow means is that there may exist a thread of a mysterious power behind Merlin that the grand wizards of the Magical Congress cannot understand; this means that the source of the mysterious power that had guided Merlin to this spot was more terrifying than he had initially thought.

The secret it represented was far longer than the thousand-year-old history of wizard civilization.

"The more you know, the less you know."

Merlin rubbed his aching forehead and says softly:

"Now it seems that I had wasted a good chance...Phantom Stranger, when will you appear again?"

Merlin begins to feel the weirdness of the power behind him, he knows that his fate is most probably not under his control; the misfortune and help that oftentimes came at the most crucial moment, be it for good or for bad, it makes him restless.

And he once had a chance to understand all this.

It was on the second day he made the contract with Trigon, on the day James was hurt, at the cafe next to the street. When he had first seen the mysterious Phantom Stranger, the guy who claimed to be a watcher said to him:

"To find the right answer, you must first ask the right question."

Pity that Merlin wasted that chance on a meaningless question, he would not be so rash if he could ask again now.

But it's useless to regret now.

In the darkness, Merlin holds Goose and places it into its nest on the balcony, he then yawns and returns to his room.

He was somewhat tired and needed to take a nap.

Merlin did not notice, at the corner of his room, that the black and white kitten Goose had brought back was currently squatting there while looking at him, seemingly observing and contemplating him in the darkness.

Over the next few days, the children didn't face any more dangers.

The children's luck seemed to have gotten better after experiencing the trouble brought by that old hag Umbridge. Merlin even brought them to Disneyland in California, where the children had fun.

On the plane back to New York, Harry had told Merlin that for a moment, he wanted to give up everything magic, all of his past, and just live as a happy muggle with a normal and calm life.

But they both knew that this was impossible,

After the return of Voldemort, he would surely target Harry, who had once 'killed' him. What awaited Harry was a path of darkness and catastrophes.

But this child will walk to the end of that path and reach the light of hope.

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Merlin was no prophet, he had not even learned any prophecy magic, but he had this feeling that this boy's story will not end in darkness.

He will have a happy and peaceful life and future as he's anticipating.

"This is my gaming console and here are some disks."

In Merlin's living room, young Erik was helping Ron pack up his luggage, he held a rather new console and put it into Ron's suitcase with slight reluctance; he tells his new friend:

"I heard from Hermione that you wizards can do a lot of magical things, but there are some things that you don't have."

He pats on Ron's shoulder and tells him:

"Like gaming consoles, like digital games. You'll need some entertainment after reading magic books all the time. I'll try sending you the new game when it releases."

"This is your most treasured possession."

Ron strokes on the gaming console in his bag and tell Erik:

"I'll take the goodwill, but I can't take it, my mom wouldn't like me playing with this."

"Then play in secret."

Erik says:

"Even me, a normal person, can keep this a secret from Merlin's spot check, surely a wizard like you can hide this?"

"You're right."

Ron nods in realization, he contemplates and looks around, he then takes off a silver ring from his finger, hands it to Erik, and says:

"Treat this as a return gift. It's not much, my brother used it before, it increases your memory and focuses when you wear it; this thing's especially used for memorizing spells, it doesn't need a chant, but it needs to be placed under the sun for at least 15 minutes every day."

"Also, I'll ask Bill to help you find that African country Wakanda."

Ron pats on Erik's shoulder and says:

"I'm a wizard, so don't worry about it, I'll definitely help you find it."

On the other side, in Harry's room, Merlin was helping Harry keep his luggage. Because they had bought a lot of things over the past few days, they couldn't all fit in the magic handbag Harry had brought, so Merlin prepared two extra-large boxes to fit them in.

Harry was not in a good mood, because he'll have to return to Dursley's home tomorrow.

If he had a choice, he was unwilling to face his unfriendly uncle and aunt.

But Harry had to go back, supposedly Harry's wizard mother had cast some kind of protection spell on her sister's house before her death; it was mysterious magic that kept Harry from being discovered and harmed by the Death-Eaters as long as he stayed in that house.

"Listen to me, I'll give you a letter, and you'll give it to your uncle when you get home."

Merlin sits by the bed, and while wiping his glasses, he says to the unhappy Harry:

"It's a warning letter with an official seal on it, it'll make your life for the next few years happier; in fact, for people like Mr. Dursley, pressure from the real world is much more useful than mysterious magic."

He pats on Harry's shoulder and says in a low tone:

"Trust me, it's easy enough."

"Maybe I can move out and live."

Harry lifts his head and tells Merlin:

"Rent a house outside, just like you..."

"Erase this thought, kid!"

Merlin curls his finger and heavily knocks it on Harry's head, he says seriously:

"If your wizard principal and those that you trust have told you that your home is the safest place, then you must return there! I know not how terrifying Voldemort is, but if those grand wizards see him as a threat, then you must act seriously."

"Compared to a precious life, any terrible situation is bearable, understood?"

"Alright."

Harry shrugs, he was wise enough to make the right choice, and that thought just now was simply a flash.

After preparing his luggage, Harry hands Merlin his slightly old-fashioned magic handbag, saying:

"This is for your care over the week, Merlin, I don't have anything else I can give you, so take the bag."

Merlin looks at the bag in Harry's hand, on the exterior of the bag was the symbol of a stag, representing the emblem of the Potter wizarding family; this must be something Harry's father had left him.

"No, this means too much to you."

Merlin shakes his head, he pats on his pocket and says:

"Not to mention, I already have a magic pocket."

"Your's is almost broken, Mr. Merlin."

Harry says:

Alchemic items are just like canned food, they have expiry dates, your magic pocket has been used for a long time now, and it'll lose effect in a few more uses."

"My father left me this bag, but he left me a lot of things. It may hold fewer things, but it's sturdy and self-regenerate, very suitable for agents like you to use."

"Mmm..."

Merlin frowns and looks at the bag Harry hands over, he then nods:

"Alright. I'll take it."

As he finishes, he looks at the time, the children's flight was in two hours, and he had to go pick up Hermione and Ginny from his cousin's place.

Last night, his cousin had heard the news of the children going back and had to let Hermione and Ginny sleep at her place.

But as Merlin takes out his phone, there was a call.

It was Hermione's number.

"Hello, Hermione, have you packed your things? I'll be there in a..."

"Merlin! Look at the sky!"

Hermione's screams resound from the telephone, Merlin and Harry instinctively raise their heads and see a green skull emblem flickering beneath the clouds above Hell's Kitchen, a weird light snake was intertwining on that skull.

The emblem was quite ferocious.

"Pa"

The jacket in Harry's hand falls onto the ground, horror filled the child's eyes.

"It's the Dark Mark. Voldemort..."

"He's here..."

 

 

 

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