The two houses slowly moved apart, sliding to the left and right.

A house emerged from between them and seamlessly merged with the row of terraced houses, without the slightest trace of anything unusual.

A short while later, the front door opened, and an elderly man with snow-white hair but a remarkably lively spirit stepped outside.

Despite being the owner of the house, he seemed even more reserved than Vader, the uninvited guest standing outside.

There was an unmistakable shyness in his expression.

"Sorry, Mr. Scamander. I apologize for showing up without an invitation. That was rather rude of me."

Vader hurriedly cast a spell to retrieve the book floating in the sky and dispelled the message beneath it.

"No, no, it's fine."

Newt awkwardly waved his hands.

"You're Enzo, right? Dumbledore wrote to me a few days ago. He mentioned you in his letter."

Hearing this, Vader showed an appropriately surprised expression, but soon looked enlightened.

"I've never met Dumbledore. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley must have told him about me."

"He wrote to you so soon afterward. It seems he really thinks highly of me."

"Dumbledore is very interested in the Kingdom of Lorcan you mentioned."

"He's lived for more than a century and has never heard of the place, so he wrote to some of his old friends to ask about it."

Newt awkwardly rubbed his hands together.

"To be honest, I've traveled across five continents and more than a hundred countries, yet I've never heard of the Kingdom of Lorcan either."

Of course you haven't.

If you had, I'd be in serious trouble.

Vader silently complained inwardly, but his expression remained perfectly calm.

"The kingdom is hidden within a secret realm, so under normal circumstances, it has no contact with the outside world."

"This time was... a special situation."

"Besides, Headmaster Griffin felt that I needed to broaden my horizons, so he sent me out."

"Could you tell me about the Kingdom of Lorcan?"

Newt suddenly became excited.

"I'm extremely curious about this unfamiliar magical world. There might even be many magical creatures there that I've never heard of."

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Vader smiled.

"But... could I come inside first?"

Only then did Newt realize that they had been standing outside talking the entire time.

He became so embarrassed that he probably could have dug an entire hole through the floor with his toes.

"Please, please come in."

Confirmed.

He's socially awkward.

But with a personality like this... how did he manage to travel across five continents and more than a hundred countries?

Vader couldn't help wondering.

Still, he wisely chose not to ask.

The interior of the house looked no different from an ordinary Muggle home.

There wasn't even a hint of magic in its furnishings.

The two sat down in the living room.

Newt enthusiastically poured Vader a cup of tea before sitting opposite him with an expectant expression, looking like an obedient student waiting for a lecture.

The corners of Vader's mouth twitched.

He began describing the Kingdom of Lorcan from his memories.

He talked about its iconic architecture, scenery, people, locations, legends, strange tales, and interesting anecdotes.

However, he deliberately left out anything involving pets.

After all, he didn't have a single magical pet with him.

Talking about that in front of a Magizoologist would be like challenging an authority in his own field.

It might even expose him.

In any case, the framework of the existing world was already there.

As long as he modified it according to what wizards could understand and accept, there shouldn't be any problems.

More than half an hour later, Vader's mouth was completely dry.

He picked up the tea on the table and drained the cup in one go.

I can't make up any more.

If I continue, I'm definitely going to expose myself.

Who could have imagined that the first thing he'd have to do after entering the house would be telling stories to a man approaching a hundred years old?

"That's incredible."

Newt was utterly fascinated.

"I never imagined there could be a secret realm like that in the world."

"It's practically... no, it completely is a wizard's world."

He felt as though his entire worldview had been shaken.

Newt didn't think Vader was lying to him.

His descriptions had been far too vivid, so detailed and realistic that there wasn't the slightest flaw to expose them as fiction.

"Enzo, there must be many people at your magical academy who envy you."

Newt teased him with the air of someone speaking from experience.

"Your guide is Headmaster Griffin, the greatest wizard in the kingdom, and you even have kind and gentle teachers like Shirley looking after you."

"More or less."

Vader smiled.

"But I'm still just a student."

"Headmaster Griffin says I'm capable of graduating early, so this trip can also be considered practical experience before graduation."

"I see."

Newt nodded thoughtfully before cautiously asking,

"Then how long do you plan to stay?"

"I'm not sure."

"I'll return when the time is right."

"Could you take me with you?"

Newt asked hopefully.

"Tina and I happen to be thinking about moving somewhere new to spend our retirement."

"That... I'm afraid I can't."

Vader rejected the request directly.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Scamander. I don't have permission to bring outsiders into the kingdom."

"That's all right."

Newt waved his hand indifferently.

He didn't seem particularly disappointed.

"By the way, why did you come looking for me?"

"And how did you know where I was?"

"I'll answer the second question first."

Vader smiled amiably.

"After leaving Hogwarts, I made a simple plan for my journey of training."

"It may sound a little absurd, because I know almost nothing about the outside world, so I used divination to determine my route."

"Divination?"

"My divination skills are no worse than Headmaster Griffin's."

Vader spoke proudly.

"I divined many vague locations and vague figures."

"And Mr. Newt Scamander's appearance can be found in The Daily Prophet and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them..."

"So I came here."

"I took the Knight Bus."

"That's fascinating."

Newt smiled with interest.

"What else did you divine?"

"There may be people or places you're uncertain about that I happen to know."

"An elderly couple with snow-white hair."

"They looked unbelievably old."

"They seemed incredibly fragile, like porcelain on the verge of shattering."

"Nicolas Flamel?"

Newt immediately came to a conclusion.

Among everyone he knew, there was only one person who matched that description.

"That legendary alchemist who has lived for hundreds of years?"

Vader deliberately feigned surprise.

"That makes sense."

"Before leaving the kingdom, I happened to be researching the Transmutation of Life."

"If I could receive guidance from a legendary alchemist, it would save me from taking many unnecessary detours."

"You know about him?"

"These past few days, I haven't done much besides reading."

"I don't know much about him, but I do know some basic information."

"What a coincidence."

Newt smiled.

"Nicolas Flamel is a friend of mine."

"They're living in seclusion in Devon."

"If you want to visit him, I can write you a letter of recommendation."

Newt said it casually.

He was an exceptionally honest person who seemed to possess a natural inclination to help others.

Decades ago, when Dumbledore asked him to undertake dangerous missions, Newt still couldn't bring himself to refuse.

He had simply picked up his suitcase and gone off to sabotage the plans of the first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Scamander."

"It's nothing."

"Anything else?"

"There was another place. I think it was called Nevermore Academy."

"I assumed it was a magical school, but I've asked many wizards about it, and none of them had ever heard of it."

"Nevermore."

Newt rubbed his brow.

"Very few British wizards know about that academy."

"It's a school specifically designed to educate outcasts."

"It's located in the town of Jericho, Vermont, in the United States."

"Sir, what exactly are outcasts?"

"Werewolves, vampires, Faceless Men, sirens, Gorgons, and so on."

"Those special races and people with extraordinary abilities are considered outcasts."

After hearing this, Vader was left with only two thoughts.

First, seeking out Newt Scamander had been absolutely the right decision.

He was gentle, knowledgeable, well-traveled, and genuinely willing to help others.

Just one letter of recommendation to Nicolas Flamel had already made the trip worthwhile.

And Newt could provide him with plenty of other valuable information as well.

The second thought was that the waters of this world were far deeper than he had imagined.

It was one thing for wizards to have their own magical schools.

But even the outcasts had their own academy.