Chapter 68: Arc 2: Chapter 23: Wizard’s Warning

On the next afternoon, Merlin carried an ugly-looking cat to the outer-most region of the remote village and finally finds an ancient-looking bar.

There was a metal sign that was so dirty one could hardly see the jumping horse on it.

This was the place that would soon decide Merlins' fate.

But as Merlin attempts to enter, he was blocked by an elderly man who was sitting by the bar entrance while leisurely smoking on his pipe.

The elderly man with grayish-white hair glances at Merlin with his foggy eyes, he coughs and tells Merlin:

"We don't welcome outsiders here."

"I have an appointment."

Merlin lightly said, to which the elderly asked again:

"Who?"

"Mr. Arthur."

"Which Arthur?"

The elderly man was getting impatient, Merlin disregarded the impatient tone the elderly man had and answered:

"Mr. Arthur Weasly."

"Oh?"

The elderly man spews out a smoke breath after hearing the name, he contemplates Merlin with suspicion, and a few seconds later, he snorts and retracts his hand that was blocking Merlin.

He warns:

"I don't know where you heard that name, but it's best you don't lie to me. Although the Weasly Family is lacking in money, and they have sympathy towards Muggles, they also inherited the rules of pure-blood families, for those who dare to lie to them...huhu."

Merlin ignored the elderly man who acted as a doorkeeper, he carries Crookshanks in his arm, pushes open the door, and walks into the bar.

Now was not the bar's operating hours, because this small bar with old decorations and embellished walls had no customers aside from a black bartender.

Merlin sits by the bar and tells the bartender in front of him:

"A glass of wine please, any wine is fine."

The bartender glances at Merlin, moments later, he serves a small glass of wine to Merlin. He places the wine that was flashing amber lights in front of Merlin, crosses his arms, and says:

"Vintage Wine, selling price 1 Gold-Galleon plus 7 Silver-Galleons; this unfamiliar-looking sir, how will you pay?"

"Uhh..."

Just as he saw the odd-looking cocktail in front of him, Merlin suddenly realizes something.

In New York, he had heard from the third-rate wizard Constantine that wizards in the wizarding world use a different type of currency that only wizards would have, and Merlin did not have said currency on him.

Plus, Merlin could recall the exchange rate between Gold-Galleons and English Pounds.

1 Gold Galleon equals 5 English Pounds or 7 dollars.

Merlin looks at the small wineglass and the content of the glass that wasn't even full, he knew...he had been cheated on.

"Do you take cash here?"

Merlin opens his wallet and looks at the bartender, the latter smiles coldly:

"No!"

Seeing the bartender's cold smile, Merlin knew that the guy in front of him was looking for trouble intentionally, probably bullying him as some country bumpkin.

But Merlin did not need to be scared of him, under his dark senses, he could feel that the bartender had extremely faint traces of magic on him, incomparable even to the elderly man by the door.

This means that this guy was simply bluffing him!

Merlin's expression turns cold, he takes an item from his coat and slams it onto the table.

"What about this? Do you take this?"

The time was boxy, and it had a cold yet lethal light emitting from it under the lights, it was...a large caliber handgun, loaded with bullets.

Maybe useless against official wizards, but one bullet is all it would take to send a true 'squib' in front of him to heaven.

The black bartender knew what was in Merlin's hand, he subconsciously steps backward and sees as Merlin lets out a scornful smile.

He knew, at this time, that he was exposed.

This made the bartender feel embarrassed, and just as he tries to look for trouble again, a deep voice resounds from the entrance.

"That glass should cost 5 dollars, alright, Mr. Merlin, don't make things difficult for Gil. He's just a small fry who loves playing pranks, let him be."

The bartender turns humble after hearing the voice, he says:

"Hello, Mr. Arthur, 3 glasses of whiskey as usual?"

"Mmm, a glass."

The man ordered and sat on the seat next to Merlin.

He looked to be in his 40s, he had blonde-red hair that looked like it was casually tidied.

He was tall, about 1.85m in height, he wore a black coat and an aged gentleman's shirt with a purple tie and shabby-looking handbag in his hand.

The man had brilliant eyes, a large nose, and a wide forehead; he had a gentle temperament.

He looked to be quite easy to converse with, his voice was sweet and gentle as if he didn't want to wake something up.

"Are you Mr. Arthur? Ron's father?"

Merlin looks at the man beside him, the latter nods, but his attention was directed at the silver handgun next to Merlin's hand.

"Steel technology and the use of gunpowder."

The man looked at the handgun and spoke with interest:

"Such interesting things keep popping up in the world of muggles, they're very intelligent...but they're dangerous, especially for apprentice wizards who lack both experience and power, a handgun could cause a catastrophe."

"Could you give it to me? Mr. Merlin, I'm quite interested in these things, perhaps I can find a way to keep apprentice wizards safe from it after some research."

"Of course."

Merlin reaches out and pushes the gun towards Mr. Arthur, the latter picks it up slightly clumsily and begins to examine it; under Merlin's instructions, the man who had never possessed a firearm before spent less than 2 minutes to fully understand how to use it.

He unloads the ammo magazine, flicks his fingers, and unloads the bullets. They hovered in front of Arthur, as the entire gun began to disassemble.

"Whimsical!"

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Arthur lamented as he examined the parts; moments later, he awkwardly looked at the reassembled handgun that could no longer fire.

He must've reassembled some parts incorrectly.

Merlin smiles and takes the gun, in a few seconds, he swiftly disassembles then reassembles the gun. He then passes it to Arthur and says:

"Maybe you need a specialized textbook on guns and gunpowder."

"Oh? Do they have textbooks specialized for guns in the muggle world?"

Mr. Arthur takes the gun and places it into his handbag, then he takes his wine and begins conversing with Merlin.

Mister wizard was a talkative man, from gunpowder to elevators, from cars to planes, from generators to warships; he seemed to be interested in everything in the muggle world.

This slightly confuses Merlin, so he asks:

"Mr. Arthur, you can find the information you want in nearly all libraries. There's no reason that an outstanding wizard like yourself would not be able to find those books?"

"I know they're in libraries, but I cannot borrow them, Mr. Merlin."

Arthur took a sip of his wine with slight pity and says:

"I work in the Ministry of Magic, in a department called the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office; some open-minded wizards encouraged me to write the Muggles Protection Act myself, but unfortunately, wizards hold stereotypes about muggles. My daily work is to prevent my peers from using objects from the muggle world, in case external civilization causes an impact on the traditions of the wizarding world."

"There are billions of muggles in the muggle world, but there are no more than 3 million wizards across the globe, even if we include squibs...this means that once the window of communication between the two worlds open, the traditions upheld by the wizards for thousands of years may permanently disappear in less than 10 years."

Arthur shrugs and tells Merlin:

"So, some of our traditions may seem closed for you, it is a necessary action to ensure the continuation of the legacy of wizards."

"Oh...is that so?"

Merlin nods understandingly, he wants to learn more about wizards, but Mr. Arthur took out a quaint pocket watch and looked at the time, then he lightly coughs and puts down the wine glass in his hand.

His expression becomes serious as he tells Merlin:

"Alright, entertainment time is over, Mr. Merlin."

"I heard from Hermione, that you're a squib from North America? And you want to acquire some magic textbooks from me?"

"Mmm, yes."

Merlin tries to make himself look sincere, his gaze turns to sorrow as he says:

"My parents are..."

"No!"

Arthur interrupts him before he could lie, the wizard looks at Merlin and calmly says:

"You're not!"

Merlin's expression froze.

He listened as Arthur continued:

"Children are naive, they think they can cut corners just because they know about squibs. But they overlooked something, I've worked in the Ministry of Magic for over 30 years now, I've seen more squibs than the number of books they've read."

Arthur looks at Merlin and says:

"You are not a squib, Mr. Merlin, the difference between you and a real squib is so big, I could tell even if I were blind."

He points at the working bartender Gil and tells Merlin:

"This is how a squib acts, eloquent towards muggles, in awe towards wizards. But I could not find a trace of pettiness or fawn in your eyes, you should be a respectable person in the muggle world, perhaps even a public official, Merlin...did I guess right?"

"Wizards indeed have a keen eye."

Merlin breathes a sigh and looks at Arthur straightforwardly, he takes out his identification and tells Arthur:

"You guessed right, Mr. Arthur, I'm not a squib, I'm a public official who's responsible for security; I wish not to be related with magic if I had a choice. Up until now, magic has brought me nothing but pain."

"Then, talk about it."

Arthur pats on his handbag and tells Merlin:

"What you need is right here. But you have to tell me about your past, so I can judge whether or not I should help you. Merlin, just as the handgun you've gifted me, as insignificant as these magic textbooks are, I wish not for them to be mass released into the muggle world. Guarding these ancient secrets is my job after all..."

"Also, Merlin, I have to warn you."

Mr. Arthur's expression turns dangerous, he stares at Merlin's eyes and says:

"You have a close relationship with Miss Hermione, and I have no idea how she became friends with you, but as an official wizard, it's my job to protect the future generation of wizards. I hope that you properly manage your relationship with her; I'm not asking for you to leave her, I'm asking you not to approach her with ill-intention, or with the intent of using her!"

"If she or her friends are harmed because of you, then the prisons of Azkaban or Nurmengard will be where you spend the rest of your life."

"Can you do that?"

Towards Arthur's rude questioning, Merlin properly replies:

"I can!"

"My job is to protect the innocent and fight hidden evils. My encounter with Hermione was merely a coincidence, but I have to thank this coincidence for bringing me hope...if you have the need, I can make an oath, surely you wizards have a binding oath?"

Merlin's question made Arthur hesitate slightly, he lightly coughs and says:

"We do. But I won't allow your relationship with Hermione to be constrained by such methods."

"Merlin, you'll be put into the Ministry of Magic's watchlist after you accept these textbooks, if you use magic for evil on British land, then, unfortunately, you will be hunted by all the Aurors in Britain."

"What about North America?"

Merlin asks, to which Arthur smiles and says:

"Then that'll be an issue for the Magical Congress of the United States of America...listen to me, our way of doing things is much gentler than our North American peers. So no matter where you are, it's best you restrain yourself."

"Alright, now, tell me your story."

Mr. Arthur leans against the bar, looks at Merlin, and says:

"Convince me with a real story, don't try to deceit me; as an official wizard, I have plenty of ways to verify whether or not you're lying."

"Now..."

"Begin your story, I'm listening."

 

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