"... There used to be a weird old man living here. He was a herbalist, but he didn't seem to be very famous - at least I've never heard his name anywhere else."
"He never married or had children in his whole life. He devoted his whole life to the poisonous tentacles. Well... he died under the poisonous tentacles' spikes and venom in the end."
On the banks of the Hudson River sits an old house that Muggles cannot see.
Last night, after sisters Leo Levi and Abigail apparated here with Sirius, they came to this clean but empty house.
The scenery here is great, with green grass everywhere and the fragrance of soil, and you can see the sparkling river not far away. Except for the strong wind on this small slope, there is really nothing wrong with it.
Behind this old house, the original owner used a wooden fence to encircle a small garden, but no one had taken care of it all year round, and it had been filled in with weeds.
"Now, in the garden behind that -" Olivia sat by the window of the room, enjoying the rising sun and saying leisurely, "it used to be full of poisonous tentacles. , no one dares to go in!"
"… Yeah?"
Sirius was half lying and half sitting on the bed, leaning against the pillow and squinting his eyes slightly to avoid the slightly dazzling sunlight outside the window.
"Yes!" Olivia sat on the chair and swayed. "I was still studying in Ivermorny at that time, and I hadn't learned about poisonous tentacles yet! For this, I went to the library to check out a lot of information... It turns out that the leaves of Poisonous Tentacle are valuable! Each one is worth 35 Dargot!"
"Oh, that's really expensive." Sirius said casually.
A 35-gallon pot in the North American wizarding world is equivalent to 10 gold galleons in the British wizarding world - that is indeed quite expensive, but Sirius is not very interested in the topic of poisonous tentacles at the moment.
Midnight passed and it was already dawn, but his physical condition had not improved at all. Although he overused magic spells during his escape and suffered an attack from the black mist, he would not be like this.
Olivia had already given him magic potion, and most of his injuries were gradually improving, but he still couldn't cast half of the magic spell—he had lost the ability to make a feather float.
When he thought that there were still very urgent things that needed to be done, he could barely conceal the anxiety in his heart.
Early this morning, in fact not long ago, Sirius asked Abigail to send a letter for him.
She was actually a very kind and good girl. Although she said unforgiving words last night, she still helped him take out his robe.
But unfortunately, before the robe could be put to real use, it encountered an enemy.
"... It's pretty good if you can escape smoothly."
Thinking of this, Sirius couldn't help but shook his head.
When he himself was being hunted, he deeply realized the power of that strange black mist. He was once forced to apparate only a short distance, and was unable to concentrate on apparating further away.
It's fast, highly resistant to spells, and surprisingly destructive. That kind of unreasonable thing cannot be dealt with by just one or two wizards - even the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic.
So when Abigail came upstairs to inform him that there were enemies, he immediately asked them to use long-distance apparation to escape from there.
It seems that his choice was correct. At least he didn't let these two girls get hurt, and this is the best proof.
"... Poisonous tentacles are very aggressive. Even their seeds will squeak by themselves if left alone!"
Olivia was still talking to herself about the topic of poisonous tentacles, as if she wouldn't get bored even if she was a one-man show.
"Oh, really?" Sirius forced himself to wait patiently.
To be honest, this was the first time that he felt that his strength was really insufficient. In the past, even when facing several Death Eaters, he could always retain the energy to evacuate, and he would never be as embarrassed as this time.
"Later, whenever I was on vacation, Abby and I would often come here to stay for a few days..."
Olivia leaned against the window, bathing in the warm sunshine, and softly told some stories. Seeing her pure smile, Sirius' inner annoyance seemed to calm down a little.
…
On the other side, Abigail has returned to Jackson Square, and she is now filling out the delivery form at the Owl Post Office.
Yes, owls are used in the North American wizarding community to deliver messages, and they have always been that way.
In fact, she should not be responsible for delivering the letter today, because she was clearly seen by a "bad guy" last night.
But if this matter is handed over to her sister, that would be the biggest disaster - no one knows Olivia's unreliability better than her sister!
Therefore, although she still felt uneasy in her heart, since she had accepted the task of delivering the letter, she had to do it for others.
Judging from what happened last night, that man shouldn't be a bad guy.
"...But we still have to go back as soon as possible!" Abigail muttered softly while filling out the form.
This is natural. She is not only worried that she will meet the bad guy last night, but she is also more worried about her sister and that man being alone.
But thinking about it, the pen tip in Abigail's hand suddenly slowed down.
"No, or... I shouldn't actually worry about them?" She thought as she tilted her head.
Speaking of which, there is quite a age difference between Abigail and her sister! Now that things have happened, Olivia is already quite old. She should have found a man to get married and have a few children.
It's not that no one likes her sister. In fact, Olivia has always been surrounded by suitors. But with her personality, no one succeeded in catching her in the end.
As time passed, those men had already given up and started their own families and careers, and Olivia finally became one of the bright remaining women in the American wizarding world.
"Let's put aside that man's troubles. At least he looks quite tasty..." Abigail held her chin and considered, "Well... no, no, the premise is already out!"
At the counter of the post office, the clerk looking at Abigail expressionlessly looked at Abigail, and the postmark stamp he held in his hand was stained with ink.
"Ah—" Abigail suddenly came back to her senses and smiled sheepishly, "It'll be fine soon! It'll be fine soon!"
She hurriedly filled out the shipping form, checked it again, and hurriedly handed it to the counter clerk. I saw that the other party stamped the postmark without hesitation, and then threw it into the letter basket behind him. This was considered to be temporarily completed.
After delivering the letter to the post office, Abigail quickly walked out of the post office lobby. She stood on the steps at the entrance of the hall and hesitated for a moment, and finally gave up her plan to go home and take a look.
Anyway, I have to postpone my business trip, so I’ll leave my luggage at home for now! She was about to apparate away from here, but suddenly there was a cold feeling on her back, and then she found that she couldn't move.
"Sorry, this beautiful lady... please come with me!"
A rather gentle-sounding voice sounded behind her, and then her mind went blank, and an unparalleled sense of happiness suddenly rose in her heart.
"Follow me."
It was that voice again, but this time it sounded in her heart. That voice seemed to have some irresistible magic that made her want to obey.
No, or rather, she didn't want to resist at all. Because she felt that she would be happiest only if she obeyed that order.
Abigail immediately turned around, followed a young wizard wearing an exquisite wizard robe, and slowly left in a certain direction.
This young wizard is naturally Maka. When he left Jackson Square to follow Joshua last night, he did not take back all the Acromantulas he sent out to search. Unexpectedly, when he returned here with the group of children early this morning, he got a piece of good news that was quite accidental from the mouth of a certain little guy.
In the post office, a witch with Sirius's breath appeared.
According to Maka's understanding of spider creatures, spiders' sense of smell is definitely not sharp, whether in the world of magical creatures or ordinary creatures. This harvest can only be said to be a coincidence.
And just now, when Maka saw the little girl directly, he finally confirmed that there was nothing wrong with this coincidence.
He only saw one of the two wizards clearly last night, and she ran away too. How could he have thought that she would dare to show up here today
Maka, who has always been suspicious of such things as "luck", really wanted to say "lucky" this time.
He took Abigail, who was under his Imperius Curse, along the street toward the West End. As the number of pedestrians around them gradually decreased, it didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the inconspicuous shack.
This is the place Joshua proposed, just right for temporarily housing those children. After all, there are Maka's precious Acromantulas patrolling and monitoring around Jackson Square, so the level of security is naturally higher than other places.
"Squeak-"
Maka opened the door and walked into the shack. There were more than ten children sitting or lying in the small space, which made the place look a bit crowded.
He walked inside the door and took a step aside. Behind him, Abigail looked dazed. She took a few steps forward with her eyes straight, and then stood blankly at the door.
Maka waved her hand casually, and the door of the shed closed with another creak.
"Are you hungry? Eat something first—"
He took out his staff and pointed lightly at the round table in the middle. A large bread basket appeared out of thin air on it, filled with all kinds of freshly baked bread.
Next to the basket, several pots were steaming with steam, and a wonderful milky aroma wafted out from the mouths of the pots, permeating the entire house.