Merlin wondered if formal wizards had a way to quietly check a person's mind.

But Merlin didn't want to take any chances, especially when he was just one step away from what he longed for.

What's more, Merlin learned a very important concept in the course of the Secret Service Academy.

Deception is deception, and concealment is concealment.

These are two completely different concepts.

A good agent must learn to turn a true story into a true lie without mixing any deception.

Like now...

"I wanted to refuse, but the demon didn't give me a chance to refuse, and I could only watch as I pressed my fingers on the contract I couldn't read. After that, I saved little Hermione and her mother in an accident that I caused, and then something happened to me and met people just like you. ”

"He helped me selflessly, and he also warned me that if I want to live, I must find wizards who have studied the dark arts."

Merlin took the shell pendant off his neck and handed it to Arthur. Weasley, the latter in his hand, examined it carefully. A moment later, Arthur said to Merlin:

"It's a very subtle water elemental magical creation, and it only has the effect of purifying magic... Looks like it's it that helped you get through the hardest time? ”

"Yes, if it weren't for this, I would have died a long time ago."

Merlin bluntly said:

"I've relied on it for the past few years to hide from dark doom and it works great. But now, it's about to lose its effect. ”

He held out his fingers, and after losing the suppression of the shell pendant, the dark smoke that drifted between his fingers became more and more noisy, and it screamed like a living thing, trying to pounce on everything around it.

With a look of disgust, Arthur took out a black wand from his arms, and golden sparks danced at the tip of the wand, accompanied by a muffled incantation, and the golden flames struck the fugitive smoke like a fist, forcing it back into Merlin's body.

"It does look like the Shadow of Darkness."

Mr. Arthur said:

"No wonder Hermione asked me about the Silent the other day, but it's not the Shadow of Darkness, Merlin, it doesn't have a penny to do with Silent, it's a sign of the loss of dominance and chaos. It is born of darkness and has a dark nature, instinctively destroying, corroding, and even assimilating. ”

"Bang"

Arthur took out an old wooden box from his handbag, which he placed in Merlin's hand, and said:

"It's the magic textbook I used back then, including the Hogwarts beginner textbook and some necessary tutorial books, slightly worn out but not broken. You can take it and use it. ”

The magician with a good personality stared at Merlin and said:

"Mind you, Merlin, I'm not trying to help you, I'm just as disgusted as any other wizard who has anything to do with demons and the devil. I was just aware of the crisis. Once the magic in your body is completely out of control, you will cause a real catastrophe in the Muggle world, and as the writer of the Muggle Protection Act, it is necessary for me to contain this kind of catastrophe in advance... So, if anyone asks about the provenance of this set of books..."

Merlin nodded, he took a deep breath, and put his hand on top of the wooden box, and he touched the slightly rough box, and said to Mr. Arthur:

"I understand, Mr. Arthur."

"You saved my life, no matter what, I won't expose you, please trust me."

"Well, if wise little Hermione is willing to trust you, then I'm willing to give you a chance."

Arthur knocked on the table and said to Merlin with some distress:

"Not to mention, I can't beat my stupid little son and my wife... Adolescent teenagers will always have such problems, packing tickets to others, but promising to exceed their ability and not solve the trouble themselves, they can only let the poor father go out. ”

"I'll give you 2 years... Well, it's still 3 years, give you 3 years. ”

Mr. Arthur looked at his pocket watch and said to Merlin:

"At the beginning of the summer vacation in 1995, I will collect this set of textbooks from you. It unleashes magic and cannot be copied by a Muggle, let alone copied, so you have to keep the knowledge in your head as much as possible. ”

Arthur stood up, straightened his clothes, and said:

"I also look forward to seeing that in 3 years, the person standing in front of me will be a qualified junior wizard."

"Oh, by the way, if you can, Merlin, you'll need to get yourself a wand, which is a must-have item for young wizards and even full-fledged wizards to cast spells."

"You can buy it at London's Diagon Alley, the famous Ollivanders wand shop, or you can shop for it in the more dangerous Tumbledown Alley... Someone like you with blood on your hands may be better suited to Tumble Alley. ”

Mr. Arthur earnestly advised:

"You find the Leaky Cauldron first, and I'll put the map in the book. Go to the back door of the bar and count three bricks above the trash can, then two horizontally, and tap it three times with your wand. Oh, by the way, you don't have a wand yet, so use something else with magical powers..."

Speaking of this, Mr. Arthur smiled and said:

"A lot of people think that Diagon Alley can only be opened with a wand, that's just a tradition used by old wizards to trick young wizards, in fact, anything with magical powers, can open it."

"I want you to use your powers carefully and don't become a dark wizard, I don't want to see your name on the Ministry of Magic's wanted list. Most importantly, don't let down your little Hermione, even at the cost of making mistakes! ”

Arthur chuckled, he waved his hand at Merlin, and he said:

"Little Hermione has a group of friends with great potential, trust me, if you let her down, someone will teach you a lesson for me."

"Thank you, Mr. Arthur, for your help I will never forget. If you need it, Mr. Arthur, I will do my best to help you and your friends. ”

Merlin thanked the official wizard again, and he handed his contact information to the wizard in front of him, saying:

"Just call this number, and I'll be there no matter where I am."

Arthur looked down at the string of numbers, he didn't think he would be in trouble and needed Merlin's help, but a good gentleman would not refuse sincere thanks from others.

He put the note away, waved his wand in front of Merlin, and threw a ball of light at the bartender Git, who had witnessed it all the time, before turning to leave.

Watching Mr. Arthur leave the Prancing Horse Bar, Merlin clenched the wooden box in his hand like the best treasure, put the box in his backpack, he glanced at the sluggish and dazed bartender behind him, he shook his head, pressed a dollar under the wine glass, and also picked up the sleepy Crookshan, and turned to leave the place.

After Merlin leaves, the bartender Jit, who is released by Mr. Arthur with the Oblivion Curse, wakes up as if from a dream. He stared blankly at the empty bar, completely oblivious to everything that had just happened.

He put away the bill in front of him, scratched his scalp with some headache, and then began to wipe down the bar as before.

Later that day, Merlin returned to his hotel in Brighton.

He poured a bag of carefully selected cat food for Crookshan, then walked into the room, closed the door, and placed the wooden box on the bed in a pilgrimage gesture, and opened it.

Inside the box was a worn-out book, not a printed product, but more like a handwritten book.

There was a heavy cover, which was supposed to be made of some kind of fur, and there were many broken chips in the cover, and some strange stains. It seems to have been used by a lot of people, but Merlin doesn't care.

He knew that the book in front of him, which was not amazing, and even a little sloppy, represented mysterious knowledge.

It's life-saving knowledge.

He took the book out of the box, he thought that there was only this one book in this small box, but after taking one, there was still one, Merlin kept taking out large and small books, until there were almost 20 books piled up around him, and the wooden box was really empty.

It was only then that Merlin knew why Arthur had given him 3 years to memorize this knowledge.

Because there are so many...

These large and small books, even if they are just casually read through, are estimated to take a week. If you want to study hard, 3 years is not enough time at all.

Merlin is a novice after all, and magic is a thing, it is estimated that relying solely on rote memorization will definitely not work.

He picked up a copy of "Elementary Defense of the Dark Arts", and when he turned the first page, he was dizzy by the dense number of special symbols in front of him.

Although it is still written in the form of letters, it is clear that the language used by wizards is very different from modern English, somewhat similar to the way it was written in Shakespeare's time, which is not only obscure, but also has a lot of unclear terminology.

For laymen, don't even talk about learning, they can't even read it.

Merlin sighed in disappointment, he knew it wouldn't be so easy. No kind of power will come so easily.

"Let's learn the basics first."

Merlin rummaged through the books and finally found a book labeled Enlightenment Readings, and on the title page of the book was a phoenix flying in flames, and the name of the book was also interesting.

"Where are the magical creatures?"

Merlin read the name, and he felt like he wasn't reading a magic book, but a fantasy novel written by wizards. He placed the other books in that mysterious wooden box, and then placed the box in his backpack.

He lay down on the bed and opened the book.

"Magical creatures are part of magic, perhaps the most important part of the way to the origin of magic, and any wizard should know about them and treat them well. ——- Newt. Scamander, a magical beast polymath and a second-level wizard of the Order of Merlin. ”

This is the message of the book, which seems to be the advice of a great wizard.

Turning the first page, a picture of a strange animal appeared on the page in front of Merlin's eyes.

The picture is quirky, it's not fixed and stereotyped, it's moving, like a small piece of film inscribed in a book. As Merlin reads the materials, the picture is like a creature like a small tree man, constantly moving, even jumping.

It comes alive.

"Well, the means of magic."

Merlin turned to the next page with interest, it was a new magical beast, and the author also thoughtfully commented on the explanation of some technical terms at the bottom of the information.

This should be for young wizards who have just entered the school, to arouse their interest in magic.

It's really a clever way to educate.

This book of Fantastic Beasts and Where Are Them is entertaining and educational, and Merlin saw it at midnight before he knew it, and it wasn't until Crookshan, dissatisfied, jumped on the bed and asked Merlin for supper, that he realized that he had been reading it for almost 4 hours in a row.

Merlin reached out and touched Crookshan's head, then put the book aside, got up and prepared a small amount of food for the kitten, he didn't want the chubby cat to be blessed again.

When Merlin returned to his room, instead of continuing to read the book, he picked up another primer and found the information he was looking for.

"Generally speaking, a wand is to a wizard what a sword is to a soldier. With the right wand, the magic in the wizard's body can work in a smoother way, and different wands will also have a booster effect on different spells. According to the famous wand-maker, Mr. Ollivander I, the wand chooses the owner, not the owner. ”

"But young wizards need to be aware that while wands are useful when casting spells, a qualified wizard should also have the ability to release magic in the absence of a wand. Doing so will make the magic less effective and put more stress on the body, but... Casting spells without a wand, as a means of contingency, is something that wizards must master. ”

"That is to say..."

Merlin blinked, and he looked at his hands that were radiating dark magic:

"Theoretically, can I use magic now?"

Thinking of this, Merlin opened the real magic book with great interest, which was a book called "Standard Spells. The Magic Book of Elementary, by the wizard Miranda. Compiled by Goshak, it's full of rudimentary, simplest magic spells.

But after 30 minutes, Merlin returned to bed with a tired face.

He tried more than a dozen spells, but none of them worked. He rubbed his aching forehead vigorously, and he whispered:

"This thing is even more of a headache than calculus, the flow of magic has no rules at all, and without the assistance of a wand, spells can't form a magic model at all... Are all those official wizards monsters? ”

"Forget it, let's go to sleep first."

Merlin closed his eyes, and for the first time in the long time since he had been forced to accept the demonic contract, he had slept so peacefully, so peacefully.

Wish...

Hope has been held in his hands like a light that illuminates the path of darkness.

Future...

There is no need to be afraid.