"…Although I don't mind very much, do you really need to follow me?"
Late at night the next day, Maka looked at Moody, who was leaning on the crutches and making a thumping sound, and didn't know what to say.
"I have to keep an eye on you." Moody paused his cane hard and glared at him again.
"If you don't mind..." Maka shrugged, quickly pulled out her wand and waved it towards Moody's crutch, "Silent."
Moody subconsciously took a step back, but the curse still hit.
"Don't point your wand at me!" he shouted nervously.
"At least we won't alert the enemy for a while." Maka put the wand back into her sleeve and smiled. "This thing is too loud. I don't want others to hear where we are."
"Do you think I would be so careless?" Moody said impatiently, and tapped the crutch hard again, but this time there was no "bang" sound.
You could tell he wasn't happy about this.
Speaking of which, Maka and Moody are actually very similar in some aspects - they are both wary of everything around them, and both are used to acting alone.
But the difference between the two is that Maka always hides this attitude in her heart; while Moody doesn't care about other people's opinions and expresses his character vividly.
The old man and the young man were walking quickly through the alleys of Hogsmeade, heading deeper.
Suddenly, Moody's magic eye stopped turning and stared at a dark corner.
"Wait." He stretched out his hand to stop Maka, and then said loudly, "Who is there?"
"Who else... Tarino, come out!" Maka patted Moody's hand gently, and then shouted in the other direction.
As he finished speaking, a slovenly male wizard walked out of the shadows cautiously.
"Mr. McClain, you...how did you bring him here?" Tarino looked nervous. This was a natural reaction to seeing a natural enemy.
For a wizard like Tarino who lives in the underground world, Moody's "evil reputation" is simply known to everyone. Most people would have the same reaction as Tarino when they saw him.
"My friend, you look a little uncomfortable, don't you?"
Moody stared at Tarino with a fierce look on his face, and Tarino looked timid. If an uninformed person saw this scene, they would probably think Moody was a bad guy.
"Hey, don't scare him." Maka smiled and waved her hand, "Tarino, don't worry... Mad-Eye Moody is just a professor at Hogwarts now. He treats thieves like you." If you touch it, you won’t be interested.”
"Well, by the way... I'm here to collect the latest news during this period. How are things going recently?" He then asked.
Tarino looked at Moody uneasily, and when he saw that he was still staring at him, he involuntarily shrank his neck.
"Uh... Ah! There's nothing special lately. The targets you asked me to find people to keep an eye on have not moved much. It seems that they may be planning something... Well, or maybe they just want to rest for a while? Who knows?"
"Is there any other news?" Maka nodded, then asked, "For example, werewolves or something?"
"Are you talking about the recent disappearances of civilian wizards?" Tarino immediately replied, "Greyback - you know, the leader of the most restless group of werewolves. If the werewolves make trouble, then they will definitely It’s about him.”
"Hmm... Fenrir Greyback..." Maka thought for a moment, then decided to go and see if there had been any changes in the bloodthirsty werewolf leader.
The former Peter Pettigrew was undoubtedly killed by him, but there was another so-called "Black Death" beside Voldemort.
Now it seems that it may be the werewolf Fenrir.
He has not yet planned to completely fall out with Voldemort. If Fenrir is the Black Death, it is not a good idea to alert the enemy now.
"Tarino, do you know the location of the werewolf stronghold?" Maka thought for a while and asked again.
"I know, I know—those guys will cry and howl whenever the full moon comes. Who can hide it? But because of this, they have many strongholds, and it's not always possible to find the right place." Tali Nuo spread his hands and said.
Maka nodded thoughtfully and suddenly the topic changed.
"Tarino, I remember you mentioned to me before that there is a large underground black market near the Thames River? There should be werewolves there, right?"
"Hehe..." Tarino smiled mischievously, but the next second, he glanced at Moody again and asked quietly, "Is he going too?"
"Don't be so quiet, I can hear you." Moody, who had been watching with cold eyes, suddenly said, "It's that dirty place. You were still in your mother's womb when I went there!"
Given Moody's ability and high mobility, many people would habitually ignore his true age. But if you take a closer look, it's not difficult to find that he also has white hair now.
At Tarino's age, Moody was probably more than twice his age.
"In other words, that is a place where the Ministry of Magic exists by default?" Maka asked with interest.
"It's much easier to manage those ugly guys together than scattered around." Moody said impatiently, "It can't be wiped out completely... Just like the spotted awns in an old house, after a while It will grow back and continue to erode the foundation of the house.”
"Yes..." Maka agreed, "Then, I plan to go there for a walk... Where are you, Professor Moody?"
"You don't need to pay attention to me. You can go wherever you want - I will keep an eye on you." Moody looked at him and said, "I just want to see if you are as good as Albus praises you?"
After that, he turned around and left from the alley.
Maka shrugged indifferently, then took out her wand and pointed it at herself.
Suddenly, his wizard robe automatically began to deform, and in a blink of an eye it was replaced by the large gray cloth cloak that was often used to hide his identity, covering his entire body.
Immediately afterwards, he took out a pair of glasses from his waist, put them on the bridge of his nose in the hood, and then clicked them again, turning them into an ordinary black mask.
"Tarino, lead the way!" Maka urged, "I really want to see that 'dirty place' that Professor Moody mentioned."
…
At the same time, in the common room of Slytherin House.
It was already late at night, and the little snakes had all gone back to their dormitories to sleep. There was only a small figure lying on a table, seemingly writing something constantly.
Suddenly, the figure raised his head and cast his gaze at the half-moon outside the window.
The silvery moonlight fell down, illuminating half of the pretty face hidden under the wide pointed hat.
That was Willy Blois, a little witch whose identity Maka still hasn't figured out yet.
Not long after, a cool night breeze blew in from the window, gently moving the strands of hair under the brim of her hat. The transparent white hair tips were flying quietly, reflecting the bright silver light in the moonlight.
On the desk in front of her, the notebook was blown by the wind and turned to a page with a plant illustration.
That plant looked familiar, a mysterious flower that had once been planted in the greenhouse.
Now, those flowers are gone.
After the flowering period, the mystery crystal flowers will quickly wither. Willy has picked them all and carefully dehydrated them.
For Willie, it was a treasure she and her "only" friend had grown together.
"...the only friend." Wei Li chewed the word slowly, her delicate little face looking confused.
This is what her father told her, but...
Can she really have a friend? In other words, do people like her deserve to have real friends
"Not... a friend." She whispered softly, her tone cold and without any warmth.
From the day she was born, she wasn't supposed to have friends. That was too far out of reach for her. Not even her mother dares to approach herself...
Yes, it's "dare not".
All she can bring to the people around her is disaster.
Willie stared at the bright moon outside the window, just like before, calm, lonely, and without any sense of existence. Even if someone were to walk by in the common room now, they might not be able to attract their attention.
This is a curse and a yoke. And it was her father who set up this heavy shackles for her...or rather, it was the huge wizarding family that she belonged to that was full of history.
Therefore, even though her appearance was so beautiful that even Fleur Delacour could not compare with her, no one could notice her.
So, does she care
Maybe even she herself doesn’t know...
After being in a daze for a while, Willy lowered her head again and started writing one stroke at a time in her notebook.
…
The Thames is a beautiful long river that gave birth to London as a commercial capital.
Both Muggles and wizards have a fond impression of this quiet and wide river. It is precisely because of its existence that Britain and the British magical world have become one of the major centers in Europe.
At this moment, Maca, led by Tarino, was walking along an uninhabited street along the Thames River.
"...Is the entrance very hidden?" Maka asked casually.
"There are many entrances," Tarino replied. "The characteristic of the black market is that there are many entrances and exits, because everyone is always ready to enter or leave from various places..."
"Wouldn't it be difficult to hide it?" Maka glanced at him curiously.
"It's not bad... If you want to know, no matter how much you hide it, it won't be useful, right?" Tarino shrugged, "Although I don't want to admit it, it's just like what Mad-Eye said... you know!"
As he was speaking, he suddenly pointed out and said, "Look, that's one of the entrances."