Chapter 69: Arc 2: Chapter 24: Merlin & Magic

Merlin did not know whether or not official wizards had a way to silently peek into someone else's mind.

But Merlin did not want to take that risk, especially when he was this close to what he yearned for.

Not to mention, Merlin had learned an important idea during his time in the academy.

Deceit is deceit, holding back is holding back.

These were two different concepts.

An excellent agent must learn how to turn a true story into a true lie without mixing in any lies.

Like now, for example...

"I wanted to decline, but the demon did not give me a choice, I could only watch as my finger pressed onto the contract I did not understand. After that, I rescued young Hermione and her mother in an accident I caused, then I experienced some things and met people like you."

"He selflessly helped me, and he told me that if I wish to live, I have to search for wizards with deep knowledge on black magic."

Merlin takes off the shell pendant on his neck and passes it to Arthur Weasley, the latter takes it with his hand and closely examines it. Moments later, he tells Merlin:

"A very exquisite water elemental construction with one sole ability to purify...it would seem that it helped you through the darkest times?"

"Yes, without it, I would've died long ago."

Merlin speaks frankly and bluntly:

"I've been depending on it to suppress the dark mana inside me, and it's very helpful. However, it's losing its effect."

He extends his finger, and without the suppression of the shell pendant, the black fog fluttering around his fingers grew ever more aggressive, and like a living entity, it screamed as it attempted to pounce towards everything around it. 

Arthur took out a black wand with a face of disdain. clumps of golden sparks pulsate on the tip of the wand, and following an ambiguous chanting, the golden sparks smash into the black fog like a fist, sending it back into Merlin's body.

"It does look like Dark Shadow."

Mr. Arthur says:

"No wonder young Hermione came to ask me about Obscurials a few days ago, but this is not Dark Shadow, Merlin, it has nothing to do with Obsucrials, it's a sign of ununified mana falling into chaos. It originates from the darkness, so it's more biased towards darkness, it instinctively destroys, corrupt, and even assimilate."

"Bam"

Arthur takes out an old box from his handbag and places it by Merlin's hand, he says:

"These are the magic textbooks I used during my time in Hogwarts, including Hogawarts' primary textbooks and some necessary tutorial books; they're shabby, but they're not damaged. You can use these."

The wizard with a good personality looks at Merlin and says:

 "Do note, Merlin, that I'm not helping you on purpose, like other wizards, I dislike all things related to demons and devils. I just sensed the danger. Once the mana inside your body loses control, it will cause a true catastrophe in the muggle world; as the author of the Muggle Protection Act, I need to restrain this possible catastrophe ahead of time...so, if anyone asks of these books' origins..."

Merlin nods, takes a deep breath, and places his hand on the box; he touches the slightly rough box and tells Mr. Arthur:

"I understand, Mr. Arthur."

"You saved my life, so no matter what, I won't expose you, trust me."

"Mmm, if the wise young Hermione is willing to trust you, then so too will I."

Arthur knocks on the table and says with slight distress:

"Not to mention I can't refuse my silly youngest son and my wife...adolescent boys all have the same problem, making promises towards other people, and when that promise exceeds their capabilities, they could only ask help from their poor fathers."

"I'll give you 2 years...mmm, let's make it 3, I'll give you 3 years."

 Mr. Arthur looks at his pocket watch and tells Merlin:

"At the beginning of the summer vacation in 1995, I'll collect these textbooks from you. Magic has been cast on this, so it cannot be excerpted by muggles, it also cannot be copied, so you have to do your best to memorize all the information."

Arthur stands up, tidies himself, and says:

"I hope that when we meet again, I'll be seeing a qualified ordinary wizard."

"Oh, also, if you can, Merlin, you need to prepare a wand for yourself, it's a necessity for when wizards cast magic."

"You can go to Diagon Alley and purchase a wand from the famous Ollivanders Wand Shop, or you could try to get one from the more dangerous Knockturn Alley...someone with blood on their hands is probably more suited to go to Knockturn Alley."

Mr. Arthur says to Merlin earnestly:

"First, find Leaky Cauldron, I've placed the map in the book. Head to the backdoor of the bar, from the rubbish bin, three up and two across, tap 3 times with a wand. Oh, right, you don't have a wand yet, so use anything else with mana..."

As he spoke, Mr. Arthur chuckles and says:

"A lot of people think that Diagon Alley can only be opened using wands, that's just a tradition elderly wizards use to trick young wizards; in reality, anything with mana can open it."

"I hope you use your powers wisely, don't become a dark wizard, I do not want to see your name in the Ministry of Magic's wanted list. Most importantly, don't disappoint young Hermione, who helped you as best as she could!"

Arthur lightly chuckles, he waves at Merlin and says:

"Young Hermione has a lot of friends with potential, trust me, if you let her down, they'll be plenty of people who'll punish you on my behalf."

"Thank you, Mr. Arthur, I won't ever forget your help. If you need, Mr. Arthur, I'll help you and your friends as best as I can."

Merlin thanks the official wizard again, he passes his contact number to the wizard in front of him and says:

"Call this number, and I'll come to help you, no matter where I am."

Arthur lowered his head and looked at the string of numbers, he did not think he would need Merlin's help, but a qualified gentleman does not reject others' sincere gratitude.

He keeps the note, and in front of Merlin, waves his wand and throws a clump of light at bartender Gil who witnessed all that had happened before leaving.

As he saw Mr. Arthur off, Merlin tightly holds onto the wooden box in his hand, and like storing a most precious treasure, he keeps the box into his backpack; he glances at the sluggish and dazed bartender behind him and shakes his head, he places a dollar bill under the wine glass, carries the drowsy Crookshanks, turns around, and leaves the bar.

As Merlin leaves, bartender Gil who was cast Obliviate by Mr. Arthur snaps out of it. He looks at the empty bar in a daze, he had forgotten about all that had transpired just now.

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He keeps the paper money in front of him and scratches his head, then as before, he starts wiping the bar table.

Later that night, Merlin returned to the hotel in Brighton.

He poured a bag of cat food he handpicked for Crookshanks, then he walks into his room and closes the door; he places the wooden box on the bed as if he was pilgrimaging, and opens it.

In the box was a shabby book, it did not seem to be printed, it looked more like it was written by hand.

It had a thick cover that should be made from some type of fur, on the cover were multiple stains and cuts; it looked like it had been used by many people, but Merlin did not mind.

He knew that in this unamazing, even shabby-looking book was mysterious knowledge.

Life-saving knowledge.

He takes the book out from the box, he had thought it was the only book in the box, but there was another book after he took it out; Merlin kept taking out books of all sizes, and the box finally emptied when there were nearly 20 books stacked by his side.

It was until now that Merlin knew why Arthur gave him 3 years to memorize this information.

Because there are too many...

Even if he had simply flipped through all these books, it would still take a week. 3 years were not a lot of time when you had to learn about the information.

Merlin was a newbie after all, so just memorizing magic was definitely a no-go.

He picks up a book <Elementary Defense Against the Dark Arts> and flips open the first page, his head spun as he saw all the special symbols.

Although it was written with letters, it was clear that wizards use a much different language than modern English, it was pretty much like the Shakespeare style of writing, not only was it obscure, it was also filled with hard-to-understand special terms.

Amateurs couldn't even read it, let alone learn it.

Merlin sighed in disappointment, he knew it wouldn't be so easy. No kind of power comes so easily.

"Let's start with the basics."

Merlin rummages through the book stack and finds a book labeled Primer, on the title page of the book was a phoenix soaring from the flames, it also had an interesting name.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"

As Merlin read the title, he felt as though he was not reading a magic book, but a fictional story written by wizards. He places the rest of the books into the mysterious wooden box and puts the box into his backpack.

He lies on the bed and opens the book.

"Fantastic Beasts are a part of magic, perhaps the most important part that leads to the origins of magic, any wizard should understand them, and treat them well. - Newt Scamander, Magizooligist, O.M. (Second Class)."

This was a message in the book, assumably the advice from some outstanding wizard.

As he flips open the first page, the image of a weird animal appears before Merlin.

It was a strange image, it was not fixed and rigid, it was moving like a section of a movie placed onto the book. As Merlin read through the information, the image would move and even pulsate.

Like it was alive.

"Mmm, magic."

Merlin flips to the next page with interest, it was a new type of fantastic beast, the author even made some explanatory remarks about special terms below the information.

This should be for recently enrolled apprentice wizards to pique their interest in Magic.

What a clever way of teaching.

This book of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was entertaining, Merlin had subconsciously read until midnight; Merlin realized he had been reading for nearly 4 hours only when Crookshanks jumped onto his bed dissatisfyingly and requested a midnight snack from him.

Merlin reaches out and strokes Crookshanks' head, he placed the book aside and stands up to prepare a small amount of food for the cat, he did not want the already fat cat to become even more fatter.

After returning to his room, Merlin did not continue reading that book, instead, he picked up another introductory textbook and found the information he wanted.

"Normally, the relationship of wands to wizards is like the relationship of swords to soldiers. A proper wand can make the mana in the wizard's body flow more smoothly, and different wands have different enhanced effects to different spells. According to the famous wandmaker Ollivander, the wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around."

"But what apprentice wizards need to keep in mind is that although a wand is useful when casting spells, a qualified wizard should also be able to cast spells in the absence of his/her wand. Although doing so would weaken the effects of the spell and place more burden on the caster's body, wandless magic is a necessary skill that wizards must master."

"So..."

Merlin blinks and looks at his hands:

"Theoretically, I can use magic now?"

As he thought of this, Merlin opened a real magic book in high spirits, it was a book called <The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1> by Miranda Goshawk, in it were simple and basic spells.

But 30 minutes later, Merlin lies back onto his bed with a tired expression.

He had tried dozens of spells, none of which had worked. He rubbed his aching forehead and lightly says:

"This is more of a headache than Calculus, the mana flows without rhythm, and spells can't be formed without the assistance of wands...are the official wizards all monsters?"

"Whatever, let's rest first."

Merlin closes his eyes, in the long period after being forced to accept the demon's contract, this was his first time sleeping so peacefully.

Hope...

Hope was within his grasp, like the light that's illuminated the path to darkness.

The future...

He need not be scared of anymore.

 

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