Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron.

Wade’s room was littered with sheets of draft paper, all of them covered with notes on the creation of Portkeys.

There were two main types of Portkeys.

The first was a single-use Portkey. At a predetermined time, anyone touching it would be transported to its designated destination.

The second could be used repeatedly. The moment someone touched it, they would be transported immediately.

Both types would travel with the user to the destination. However, with the second type, touching it again would transport the user back to the original location.

If Wade wanted to travel back and forth between Hogwarts and another destination, he had to learn how to create the more advanced, reusable type of Portkey.

Over the past few days, he had mastered enough theoretical knowledge to draw inferences from what he had learned. He could probably make one already, but he had never actually put the theory into practice.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it.

He simply wanted to make the process as simple as possible, and for that, he needed an existing Portkey as a reference.

Snap!

Wade snapped his fingers.

All the scattered sheets of paper immediately floated into the air and neatly stacked themselves on the desk, forming a thick pile.

“That should be about enough. I’ll grab something to eat, then I can leave.”

Wade put all his belongings into his suitcase before heading downstairs for lunch.

A ham and cheese sandwich, grilled steak, dessert pudding, and a glass of chilled beer made up his simple lunch.

The meal cost him a full four Sickles.

While eating, Wade opened that day’s Daily Prophet.

The photograph on the front page showed a haggard-looking man with long, disheveled hair, screaming furiously.

Wade immediately lost his appetite.

Black was still on the run.

The Ministry of Magic had confirmed that morning that Sirius Black remained at large.

He was probably the most dangerous prisoner ever held in Azkaban.

“We are doing everything in our power to recapture Black,” Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge said that morning. “I urge the wizarding community to remain calm.”

Several members of the International Confederation of Wizards accused Fudge of informing Muggle leaders about the crisis...

“Sirius Black... I seem to remember that he later sneaks into Hogwarts, but what exactly is his purpose? I honestly can’t remember.”

Wade rubbed his temples with a bitter smile.

He knew that his grasp of the original plot was probably coming to an end.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

With his Seer abilities, he could still gain a certain degree of foresight.

Whatever Sirius Black intended to do at Hogwarts, as long as it didn’t interfere with him, Wade had no intention of involving himself.

Just then, a server walked over and pasted a wanted poster onto the wall.

The wanted man looked exactly like the person in the photograph on the newspaper.

The reward was 10,000 Galleons.

Gulp.

Wade’s heart wavered.

It wasn’t that he was greedy.

He genuinely needed those 10,000 Galleons.

With that reward money, he wouldn’t be so financially stretched when it came time to prepare his Sequence 5 potion.

Wade Moria naturally couldn’t afford to make a move himself.

But Enzo capturing a wanted criminal was another matter entirely.

There was no reason for him to worry about the consequences.

“Phew...”

Wade took a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself down.

He still had more important things to deal with. He couldn’t waste his time chasing after a wanted criminal.

Besides, there was one painfully realistic problem.

Being Sequence 6 didn’t necessarily mean he could defeat a fully grown wizard who had managed to escape from Azkaban.

I’ll wait until school starts.

Sirius Black is bound to go to Hogwarts eventually.

When the time comes, I’ll bring Professor Snape along. Snape may not be able to defeat Sirius on his own... but he should be able to.

At worst, we split the reward fifty-fifty.

After finishing his meal, Wade carried his suitcase into Diagon Alley.

He walked forward until he found a deep, gloomy entrance leading into Knockturn Alley.

Without hesitation, he turned and walked inside.

Several middle-aged witches and wizards with sinister expressions noticed the unfamiliar face entering the alley.

And judging by his appearance, he seemed to be an underage boy.

They exchanged glances.

Then, without saying a word, they blocked his retreat and slowly surrounded him, apparently afraid he might escape.

An underage child daring to enter Knockturn Alley alone was practically a walking bag of Galleons.

There was no way they were going to let such easy prey slip away.

“Child, are you lost?”

The witch put on what she believed was a friendly smile.

“Parents these days are really irresponsible.

“Where are your mother and father? We can take you to them.”

“Such a boring little test.”

Wade rolled his eyes.

“Use what little intelligence you have and think about it. Why would I dare walk into Knockturn Alley alone?”

“I’m in a good mood today, so I don’t feel like beating anyone up.

“But I hope you’ll have enough sense to leave me alone. Otherwise, you’ll definitely regret it.”

“Putting on airs?”

The witch sneered.

“People in Knockturn Alley aren’t so easily frightened.”

“We’d regret letting you go.”

The wizard didn’t bother wasting any more words.

He immediately fired a red spell at Wade.

Finish this quickly.

There were only a few of them, so splitting the profits among themselves wouldn’t be too bad.

But if this dragged on, they might attract other predators.

Then they would have to share their prey with them.

Bang!

Wade casually flicked his wand, effortlessly shattering the incoming spell.

“You...”

“What a shame.”

Wade’s expression remained indifferent.

“You made the wrong choice.”

He didn’t give them another chance to speak.

Spells poured continuously from the magical crystal at the tip of his wand like bullets from a machine gun.

Within seconds, all of them had collapsed.

“Hopefully, you’ll remember this lesson.”

Wade looked down at the unconscious dark wizards, his tone completely calm.

“If you want to rob someone, having no ability is one thing. But you can’t afford to have no judgment either.”

Back when I was Sequence 8, I avoided trouble whenever possible.

When I became Sequence 7, I still proceeded cautiously.

But if I’m still timid and hesitant after reaching Sequence 6, then what was the point of advancing in the first place?

Wade continued walking.

He quickly noticed that the hostile gazes following him had become far less frequent.

Making an example out of a few people really did work.

After this little display, he was confident that the people of Knockturn Alley wouldn’t easily mistake him for easy prey again.

After turning down several streets, Wade finally reached his destination.

Borgin and Burkes.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The bell above the entrance jingled.

Various human bones were displayed across the counter. Rusty, serrated instruments hung from the ceiling. There were also withered hands, bloodstained cards, lifeless glass eyeballs, grotesque masks...

It was a shady shop.

A completely shamelessly shady shop.

Wade was speechless.

No wonder this place was located in Knockturn Alley.

If it were in Diagon Alley, the Ministry would probably shut it down the very next day.

At that moment, a middle-aged man emerged from behind the counter.

His back was slightly hunched, his hairline had receded considerably, and his eyes were filled with greed and cunning.

“Mr. Borgin?”

“Good day, unfamiliar customer.”

Borgin wore a professional, insincere smile.

“How may I be of service?”

“I heard that you purchase magical objects here.”

“Of course.”

The smile on Borgin’s face grew wider.

“Do you have something you’d like to sell, sir? I guarantee a fair price. No one gets cheated here.”

Wade raised an eyebrow with a smile.

Then he placed his wand on the counter.

“Take a look at this wand. Give me an estimate.”