Maka spent the whole night in the basement of Blake's old house.
He spent this night conducting repeated analysis and research on the strange substance born from the soul. Although he quickly understood that Haierbo was collecting souls, other than that, he was never able to draw any more conclusions.
He always felt that he seemed to have missed something very crucial.
However, time waits for no one. While he is still thinking hard, Haierbo will definitely not be idle, and is probably making more preparations somewhere outside.
After all, if he wants to achieve his goal, that guy obviously needs to spend a lot of energy!
"Anyway, there is only one thing to do next -"
Maka closed the notebook in her hand with a snap and thought to herself:
"Since the unexpected opportunity last time was interrupted by Haierbo, let's create the opportunity by ourselves this time!"
"Tuk-tuk."
I have just decided what I should do and am thinking about continuing my research in this direction. Unexpectedly, the door of the potion preparation room was suddenly knocked from outside.
After a short pause, Maka waved her hand casually in the direction of the door and said:
"Please come in!"
Before he finished speaking, the door opened in response to his movements, and then a figure walked in from the door.
"Mr. MacLean."
Upon hearing this, Maka immediately smiled and nodded at the visitor.
"What's wrong, Lena?"
"That's right," Lena, who was standing at the door, leaned slightly and said calmly, "Just now, the French Chateau Blois has sent someone over, and now they are talking to Mr. Lupin in the reception room - he asked me to come Let me tell you."
As soon as he heard that people from Blois Castle were coming, Maka suddenly said:
"It's already morning? I didn't even notice... Oh, I got it, go back first! I'll tidy up here first and I'll be here soon."
After Lena turned around and left first, Maka put the substance temporarily stored in the rune array back into the special potion bottle, stood up and walked out of his potion preparation room.
When he climbed upstairs, he saw that a group of children had gathered in the foyer.
Here are not only the imprisoned children who were rescued by Maka, but also Helen Schon, whom Isla called her sister. With the power of the Obscurus blocked, she is just an ordinary girl now.
Of course, in addition to these people, there is also Voldemort's daughter Delphi Fisher who was picked up by Maka; and the little girl who just lost her mother and heard some things from the "false prophet". Cathy.
If possible, Maka actually wants to send sisters Leni and Lena there as well. After all, although they are pure-blooded werewolves with good fighting prowess, their little ability is absolutely useless in front of Haierbo.
Unfortunately, the two werewolf sisters decisively rejected Maka's proposal, and both decided to stay in the old Black house and not go anywhere.
For them, who have been displaced since childhood and have no sense of belonging, this old house has already become their true "home" in their hearts.
"Are you all ready?"
Maka did not go into the reception room immediately, but walked gently to the children's side.
It can be said that each of these children has a past that they cannot bear to look back on, including little Delphi, a little girl who said goodbye to her parents shortly after she was born. They all experienced experiences at a young age that ordinary people would never experience in their lives.
For the British wizarding world, which is currently a place of right and wrong, it is indeed better to stay away from it.
"… Mr. MacLean."
Little Cathy took two steps forward and looked up at Maka, as if she still felt uneasy. Seeing this, Maka couldn't help but think for a moment, and then looked to the side.
At this moment, little Delphi was being held in the arms of Helen, the oldest person here, probably because it was still morning, and she was falling asleep on Helen's chest.
After taking a look at little Delphi's sweet sleeping face, Maka immediately lowered her head and whispered to little Cathy:
"Although the eldest person here is Miss Schon, I think you should be the most mature and sensible one. Therefore, I have to entrust you with something very important—"
"Is it something important?"
Little Cathy didn't expect that Maka would say anything about "entrustment" at this time, and her expression was quite doubtful. She definitely felt a little confused.
But Maka quickly nodded slightly and continued:
"Yes, it is very important! With your intelligence, you will definitely understand that an enemy like Herbo cannot be dealt with overnight. And there are still many doubts. If there is a slight mistake, even France will soon be in danger... "
"I said before, even in France, you all can learn magic. Especially at Chateau Blois, I think for my sake, Mr. Blois will not be stingy - so you can Let’s make progress together with everyone.”
Having said this, he suddenly paused and then added:
"In addition, Delphi Fisher, who is going to France with you this time, is the youngest and is the younger sister of all of you. If anything happens, please remember to take care of her for me!"
Hearing what Maka said, a trace of hesitation suddenly appeared on little Cathy's face. She looked carefully at Maka's face, and then looked back at Delphi in Helen's arms, but the subtlety in her expression became more intense.
"Mr. MacLean," she said, "you have said so much, but it is all just to prepare for the last sentence, right? Well, this little sister Delphi...is her surname really 'Fischer'?"
"Okay," Maka rolled her eyes, patted her shoulder and said, "Sure enough, children who are too smart are not cute... Also, her last name is Fisher, don't think too much about it."
Little Cathy couldn't help but pursed her lips as she listened, stared at Maka and said:
"Guilty! Cover it up! No wonder mom always says that all men are like this!"
"Crack-"
Maka, who was watching little Cathy scolding her helplessly, suddenly heard the sound of the door opening behind her. Although it would be fun to tease her for a while longer as she said, Maka still chuckled and turned to look at the door of the reception room.
"Why is it that Mr. MacLean hasn't come yet? It turns out that he was chatting happily with all the young masters and ladies outside! Good morning, Mr. MacLean!"
The person who came to pick him up this time was none other than the old housekeeper of the Blois family. Needless to say, this can be regarded as an old acquaintance of Maka, and in fact, it has only been not long since the last time the two met.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Butler."
Maka said hello and walked to the reception room. Little Cathy looked at Maka's back as she entered. She was still blaming the other person just now, but now she suddenly became quiet.
Of course, this unusually mature little girl had already reacted - Maka probably just cheered herself up with the entrusted words.
Maka knows very well that once you have a certain sense of responsibility in your heart, no matter how uneasy you are, you will cheer up because of the pressure on your shoulders. Maka herself is like this, and little Cathy now feels somewhat similar.
"Yes!" She secretly thought in her heart, "Now we don't have the ability to stay here, so before we gain the corresponding strength, we'd better leave this place first... Maybe everyone here thinks the same way. ?”
I quietly looked around and saw that these were all people who had received great favor from Mr. McLean. In other words, every one of them was just like me.
…
"Mr. McLean, this is the gift the lady asked me to bring you."
In the reception room, Maka, who had just entered and sat down, immediately saw the old housekeeper taking out an exquisite box and carefully placing it on the long table in front of him.
Maka didn't even need to open it to see. As soon as the old housekeeper took it out, he felt a strong magic wave from it.
After thinking for a moment, he soon showed a hint of surprise.
"Is that Raffaela dragon's kiss starting to salivate?"
Back then, he was invited by Willy to go to Blois Castle to "plant flowers", and what he planted was a precious magical plant called "Raphaela's Dragon's Kiss".
This plant must be watered with dragon's blood from the moment it is planted, otherwise it will never bloom.
And after the grower spent at least tens of thousands of gold galleons, it would bloom into a flower shaped like a dragon's head, and even breathe out dragon breath like a real fire dragon.
However, if you want to reap benefits from this precious magical plant, you still have to wait a long time. Until the flower is fully mature, it will secrete blood-red ambergris from the dragon's mouth, which will turn into crystals when it falls to the ground.
It is recorded in the book "One Hundred Rare Plants on the verge of Extinction" that this crystal is called "Ambergris", which contains huge vitality derived from dragon blood.
Moreover, due to the blending and filtering of the plant itself, the nature of the energy becomes extremely mild, making it a natural therapeutic agent that can be taken directly orally.
Of course, it would be such a waste if it were eaten directly!
"This is a good thing!" Even Maka, who has seen many treasures, can't help but praise it at this moment, "When I make some adjustments, I will definitely surprise Haierbo again when I see him again!"
After a while, the old housekeeper chatted with Maca for a few more words, and then he was ready to take the children back to France.
But before leaving, he finally told Maka a piece of news that was not so good. Although the matter has nothing to do with Hogwarts or even the British wizarding world, it is still an important matter that people have to pay attention to.
"Just a few days ago, we received the latest information - the Wagadu Magic School in Africa was attacked by a basilisk, and there were countless casualties. The owner of the family has sent people to investigate on the spot, but there are still no people there yet. I haven’t sent any news back, so I guess..."
“… It’s no longer optimistic.”
Maka added the last sentence, and then murmured: "The basilisk...?"