Chapter 70: Arc 2: Chapter 25: An Unsuccessful Search

In the letter Hermione had sent to Merlin, she told him that the way the wizarding world cures Obscurials is to let those children who hate their mana learn how to use magic. Once the aggressive mana inside their bodies is released, the threat brought by dark shadows will soon dissipate.

Although Merlin was not a true Obscurial, his condition can also be effectively 'treated' by this method.

Merlin spent another half a month in Brighton, he spent most of his time focusing on learning and studying magic.

He did not even spend time tidying his growing hair and beard.

And in the present world, as long as you do something with perseverance, you'll be rewarded.

On the night of the 13th day, Merlin had finally successfully cast his first spell...or magic trick.

Lumos.

This was the simplest of all the grade 1 spells, it only had 2 syllabuses in its chant, and it required very little mana. According to <Hogwarts: A History>, newly enrolled apprentice wizards would spend 1-2 hours casting this simple magic trick under their teacher's instructions.

Unfortunately, Merlin had no teacher, and his understanding of magic was close to zero; he spent a lot of hard work and almost a hundredfold the time to light the 'light' in his palm.

An unshaven Merlin looked obsessively at the spark of fire in his palm.

The flames were not powerful, they could only be used for lighting cigars and as a light source, not for combat, but what it represented to Merlin was stronger than any weapon.

It meant that a shut door had been opened to Merlin.

That is hope.

"Still, the color of this fire is a bit..."

Merlin scratches his messy hair and turns around to look at the open book behind him; this book called <Hogwarts: A History> seemed to be a biography for some memories, but it was an auxiliary book that all apprentice wizards must learn in their first-year, in it were some basic magic principles and a record on the anecdotes of the mysterious Hogwarts.

And on the opened page, was a detailed record of what a successful Lumos should look like; in the moving image was a flickering golden flame, like the first light of dawn, it represented hope and light.

But the flame in Merlin's hand was golden with a bit of red.

It looked weird and ominous, it did not have a healing symbol at all. If anything, it looked like the flickering ghost fire in the nighttime.

Although it can be used as a light source...it looked weird no matter how you looked at it.

"Probably because the mana is biased to darkness."

Merlin waves his hand and extinguishes the flame, he closes his eye and feels the mana reverberating in his body.

It was just as the article excerpted by Hermione, after casting a spell the correct way, the mana in Merlin's body was still growing, but it was much more gentle.

And it started to 'flow' in Merlin's body actively and positively.

Unlike before, where it spread blindly, uncontrollably, and chaotically.

He raises his finger, there was still a clump of fog intertwining on his finger, it was less aggressive and lighter.

Undoubtedly, it was a sign that his condition was getting better.

"Meow"

The ugly-looking Crookshanks seems to feel Merlin's joy, it leaps onto Merlin's bed and rubs its head on his arm, acting well-behaved.

But Merlin knew that this was just mister cat's way of saying...

Quit playing around, and make me a night snack!

"Alright alright."

Merlin reaches out and strokes on Crookshank's head, he closes the magic book and walks to the kitchen; he pours some cat food and added a small dried fish. Behind him, Crookshanks' tail had begun to sway.

"Here, your night snack."

Merlin squats down and places the bowl in front of Crookshanks; he looks at the cat in front of him and frowns:

"You're getting fatter. This isn't good, Hermione is gonna blame me for this."

"I've stayed here for long enough now, let's return to London tomorrow, and get myself a wand. It's still difficult for me to control mana without a wand, guess there's a reason why wizards often carry their wands with them wherever they go."

Merlin strokes on Crookshank's head and helps it smooth out its fluffy fur, then he returns to his bed.

He looks at the red stain on the pillow and says:

"I probably won't be bleeding again tonight...right?"

---

On the next morning, Merlin tidied himself, then, while wearing a long coat and carrying a backpack and Crookshanks, he cancels his hotel stay. Soon, he sits on a train and returns to London.

Compared to his ignorance when he first entered London, Merlin focused on the city as the train moved into London; he saw the faint layer of light by the edge of the city.

Its color was extremely similar to the color of the sky, you couldn't see it if you didn't focus.

That should be the detection ward set in London by the Ministry of Magic, as an eye in the sky, no casting or strange energy flow in London can slip by it.

Merlin relaxes and hides the mana inside him, the detection ward can no longer stimulate Merlin's mana ever since it has calmed down.

Probably because he often uses Shadow Cloak, he can hide his mana pretty well. Though, he doesn't know if he could hide his mana from those magic detectives.

Oh right, they have a special name, Auror.

According to the records in Merlin's magic book, the name may be derived from the name of the Goddess of Dawn 'Aurora', supposedly the 'Eos' from Greek Mythology; in the wizarding world, it represented the warriors who stand in the light to battle the darkness.

Each one of them is a combat master, not to be meddled with.

Walking out of the train station, Merlin pulls his black cap downwards, presses his glasses, and tightens his grip on Crookshanks. He looks around, then he stops a car and heads towards London's Old Town.

But he received some bad news from the apartment manager below Hermione's apartment, it would seem that Hermione and her family won't be coming back from their vacation any time soon.

Merlin then leaves with the tired Crookshanks in his arms, he left a note for Hermione with his phone number on it.

As he rested in the hotel, he showered Crookshanks while giving Garrett a call, the latter was on a mission near Paris, and that he would come to pick up Merlin a few days later.

He calls Fury and talks about the situation in New York.

Fury tells Merlin that Kohler has been looking for his trouble like a madman, yet that incompetent one was unable to do anything realistic since Pierce's protection to him was getting mightier.

So Fury has been having quite a pleasant time, Fury also tells him that Constantine has begun taking over Merlin's work.

The magic ruffian's identity, for now, was an outermost personnel of the SSR.

"He's quite crooked."

Fury complains over the phone:

"That guy has looked for a multitude of reasons to try to get operating funds from me. But his work is outstanding, and he knows the rules of the underworld well, and he hasn't gotten into any trouble yet...I mean, he's quite the troublemaker, but he can always settle that trouble on his own."

"Sounds like you guys are working well together."

Merlin, while preparing lunch for Crookshanks, tells Fury:

"Don't let your guard down with that guy, he's a fox, the kind that always needs to be leashed. Anyways, Fury, what about the cult Cerberus?"

Hearing the question, Fury's tone becomes serious as he says:

"You're right, that organization is dangerous. I used a coincidental method to leak the news to Kohler. That guy took the bait and organized a large-scale hunt in Hell's Kitchen."

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"He worked with NYPD, nearly 300 officers were sent to Hell's Kitchen and surrounded Cerberus' main base. They seized a lot of contraband, drugs, dangerous weapons, and ammunition, along with dozens of extremists, they were making bombs the day we barged in."

 "Sounds like a major victory?"

Merlin places a bowl of cat food mixed with minced meat in front of Crookshanks, strokes its head, and asks:

"Did you catch Morris?"

"No! That's the problem."

Fury uses a regretful tone to say:

"I witnessed the defect half-demons you've talked about...things would've gotten messy that day if we hadn't brought the big guns with us as you said."

"7 half-demons that were stimulated by blood nearly tore down the entire building, over 40 officers and agents were injured, you didn't see the scene, it looked like a battlefield. Eventually, we used explosives and heavy sniper rifles, grenade launchers, etc, poured firepower at them for nearly 5 minutes before killing both the monsters and building."

"The cult leader Morris must've fled, no one knows where it's hiding. I asked Constantine to track it, but it's hard to say whether or not we'll find it."

"It's not your fault, Fury."

Merlin consoles:

"Dangerous dark beings like that aren't meant for us normal agents to deal with in the first place, I've got the news in London that there's a 'Witcher' organization active in the present world. If those half-demons get out of hand, the demon hunters will deal with them."

"So while they look powerful, they're limited by the rules of their world. That Morris won't dare to cause trouble in New York, trust me."

"No, I'm not scared, Merlin."

Fury explains:

"I'm just regretting it a little, if I knew the serious consequences, I would've never let Kohler handle it. If I could wait for a little longer until our supernatural specialist returns, Morris would have no chance of escaping. My negligence this time, it's my responsibility that that dangerous half-demon escaped."

"You keep saying that we have a master helping us."

Merlin asks again:

"But you never tell me what the master's name is? Does he or she really exist?"

"Of course!"

Fury hesitates a bit, then he lowers his voice and tells Merlin:

"He truly exists, he's one of the members of the 'Witcher' organization you speak of, his name is Ulysses Bloodstone. Supposedly one of the strongest demon hunters of our time, he fought with Captain America once before, and with the help of the Howling Commandos, dismantled N**i Germany's Vampire Legion. You'll meet him if there's ever a chance."

"Bloodstone? That surname sounds familiar..."

Merlin squints his eyes, after he ends the call, he quickly finds the book <Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them> and flips to the vampire title page. As expected, in the records of the Magizoologist and O.M. (Second Class) Newt Scamander, was the surname Bloodstone.

It was one of the secret vampire hunting families that emerged from the middle ages up until now.

It seems that the master Fury spoke of was a super heavyweight master and not a third-rate wizard fraud like Constantine.

Merlin closes the book and looks at the time, it was 8-pm right now, so Merlin wore his casual clothes, put on his cap, and walks out the door.

Merlin wanted to go ascertain that mysterious Diagon Alley.

Supposedly it was a supermarket for wizards, whatever Merlin wanted, he could find it there.

---

"Book store."

Merlin stands by the Charing Cross Roads in Westminster, he looks to the left, there was an already closed book store. 

"Record shop."

He looks to the right, it was an open but unpopular record shop.

"Should be here."

Merlin holds a hand-drawn map and looks towards the center of the two shops.

It was a map that Mr. Arthur had specially clipped in the pages of <Hogwarts: A History>, labeling the path to Diagon Alley.

However, on the map, there was a pub called Leaky Cauldron in between the book store and the record shop.

Yet when Merlin raised his head, there was nothing in front of him besides an old wall.

"It should be right here!"

Merlin reexamines the map multiple times and ensures he's on the right path, then he keeps the map and takes a few steps forward.

He thought it was a cover-up, like his shadow cloak, camouflaging the building in shadow.

But unexpectedly, even when he walked to the side of the wall, there was no door leading to the Leaky Cauldron.

It was like it isn't even here.

"No, that's not it."

Merlin takes off his glasses and focuses on the open space in front of him.

The ember glow in his pupils begins to flicker, the open space under the night sky begins to layer out, he could faintly see the distorted view inside.

It was a small yet old-fashioned pub, there was a pale lamp hanging by the door and a store sign with a shattered cauldron, he could even faintly see the figures moving about in the pub.

Yet he could not see or touch it like it was partitioned by a curtain of water.

"There has to be some way!"

Merlin frowns, he was starting to regret not bringing the magic books with him, there must be a way to enter the pub in those books.

But tonight, it seems he'll have to leave in disappointment.

Merlin puts on his glasses and shakes his head, he glances at Leaky Cauldron's location, then he puts his hands in his pockets and decides to leave.

Then suddenly, a blackish entity collapses onto the ground in front of him.

This surprises Merlin.

It was as if it appeared out of thin air, he takes a step backward and looks at the shadow clump in front of him, it was hard to see what it was. But Merlin could sense that it was alive, albeit injured.

Merlin squats down and touches the shadow clump, as his fingers touch the shadow clump, it dissipates to reveal a weak, injured yet armed...

Black-haired woman.

Merlin's heart sank, he knew...

That his trouble-attracting physique had led him to yet another 

 

 

T/L Note: I'll be describing Merlin's eyes as ember glow from now on.

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