Invisibility cloak.

In Muggles' little imagination of the wizarding world, this is one of the most iconic forms of "magic", along with broomsticks, Transfiguration, and pointed triangular hats.

At this point, though, they may be disappointed, as broomsticks are constantly being innovated, spells are being studied every day, and even hats are constantly changing, but the craftsmanship of the invisibility cloak has remained the same for centuries.

The main crafting material for the Cloak is the hair of the Invisible. This small monkey-like animal inhabits mainly the Far East and is a mild-mannered herbivore. However, due to their ability to become invisible and somewhat anticipate impending danger, invisibility beasts are difficult to catch, and the price of fur rises.

In 1620, an intransmissible beast was smuggled into North America by a prohibited antiquities and animal trade practitioner named Phineas Fletch in an attempt to breed it captively for profit, only to escape it. This is one of the most famous cases of alien invasion in the history of magic, as the invisible beast escaped and bred with a ghoul who had also been smuggled here, and their descendants are still widely active in the forests around Massachusetts, forming a new species known as the Cryptors, which possess stealth and shapeshifting abilities, and are addicted to human cannibalism.

Considering that their main food is Muggles (No-Maj), the Magical Congress of the United States has not yet developed a plan to eradicate them, and the Office of Occult Affairs is actively considering using the creature for political assassination.

With that out of the way, let's return to the topic of invisibility cloaks.

The scarcity of raw materials has made it difficult to scale the production of invisibility cloaks, and some wizards have tried to make invisibility cloaks by applying disillusionment charms or blinding methods to ordinary cloaks, but most of the finished products are very clumsy, and only extremely skilled wizards can guarantee their quality. Regardless of the crafting method, the effects of the Invisibility Cloaks will diminish over time, causing them to rip, become opaque, or be negated by manifestation-type enchantments.

Considering the above two points, it may be more economical to use the Transfiguration Charm directly on yourself.

However, it is said that occasionally, there will be special objects that cannot be guessed with common sense.

……

……

"Ingenuity."

Neil reluctantly handed the cloak back to Harry, exclaiming with genuine admiration.

"It's funny...... I know that there are many treasures, although the golden crown has long been melted down, but we are in the Netherlands, and we have the invisibility cloak of the Nibelungen; In Greece, there was the crown of the invisible; In Japan, there is a heavenly gonaka hunting suit; In Iraq, there is the hat of the Prophet of Abbie Leweshi...... But this one, Mr. Potter, is special."

Even at Christmas, such an anonymous gift of great value made him feel a little uneasy, and although it was wrapped in an unsigned note claiming that it was his father's relic and that he had only returned it to its original owner, Harry knew very little about his parents, whom he had never met, and could not tell whether it was true or not.

It would be reassuring to have someone familiar with magical objects to help determine the origin of the cloak, and given that it might be a fuss to alarm the professor about it, Neil seemed to be the best choice.

"Special?" Harry frowned at his assessment, "You mean, it's not your average invisibility cloak?"

"Absolutely not!" Neil categorically asserted, "Otherwise I'm a blind bald turkey!" The existence of this thing is completely contrary to ...... Wait a minute, I remember you said you sent a note with the package?"

"Yes, that's it."

Neil took the little note, slightly stunned for a moment—the elongated, note-like font on it was something he'd seen before. Seeing Harry's puzzled gaze, he quickly cleared his throat and read the words aloud as if nothing had happened: "Your father left this thing for me before he died, and it should be returned to you now, so that you can use it well." I wish you a Merry Christmas – I knew it was it!"

「

What do you mean?" Harry asked, blankly, "What is it?"

Neil hesitated for a moment to explain the matter to him in a way that kept the leakage to a minimum.

"Okay...... In short, I think you can trust the note that this cloak must indeed be the one that Ling Zun left behind - and it also solves another of my personal doubts as to why such treasures suddenly popped up like moss after rain...... Since it's the same cloak I once suspected, it all makes sense."

"I don't understand."

"Understandable—it's Headmaster Dumbledore's."

"Really?" Harry snatched the note and looked at it carefully, but almost immediately, he realized that there was a bigger doubt, "How do you know - wait, you already know about this cloak of invisibility?" Do you know my dad?"

"No, but as I mentioned, I've done a little research on magical curiosities around the world." Neil made up without changing his face, "You may not know it, but the Potter family's heirloom invisibility cloak is famous among insiders. I've heard that no trace of the artifact was found when I took the liberty of James Potter's relics — if it was stolen or was kept by someone else before he was killed, and it now appears to be Headmaster Dumbledore. If I'm a bastard with no conscience, like Master Grande, who has nothing but money in his heart, I'd have to make an offer to you now."

"Wait a minute, I'm a little confused......" Harry sat on the bed, his hand mechanically stroking the cloak. After being told that it was really something his father had used, the silky and cold touch like a liquid seemed to have a touch of warmth in his hands. But the huge amount of information that poured in in one breath still made him feel a little confused, "Dumbledore sent me this invisibility cloak? Why?"

"Who knows. Perhaps, as he said, the things return to their rightful owners." Neil shrugged his shoulders and deliberately pretended not to care, "Seriously, I thought he had given this thing back to you three months ago, and even Professor Snape was suspicious of you and what happened in his private pantry...... Nothing, Mr. Potter, nothing."

Luckily, Harry, who was in a state of confusion, didn't hear the rest of his sentence.

"Hey, don't do that, Mr. Potter - look at me!" He tapped Harry on the shoulder, forcibly pulling the other man out of his musings, "Don't overcomplicate it, okay? This thing belongs to the Potter family, to be exact, to the only remaining family member at the moment, you. Mr. Chancellor didn't give you a priceless gift, he just gave you back. There's no need to be mentally burdened by this – maybe he thinks you're ready to accept the gift now, or maybe he just happened to remember it."

Harry's eyes lit up, "You mean, Dumbledore knew what we were doing, so he picked this time to send it to me?" He wants us to catch Snape's thief?"

"What?! No!" The corners of Neil's mouth twitched, as if he hadn't expected his well-intentioned enlightenment to be explained in this way, "I mean, I didn't think that deeply, and Professor Snape wasn't necessarily ...... Hey, Mr. Potter, where are you going? I'm not done yet!"

"I'll tell Ron!"

"Please—oh, shit!"

Harry felt a flash of inspiration blow to his mind, the correct answer was hidden in such an obvious place! He jumped out of bed like a spring on the back of his buttocks, and before he could finish his words, he hurried out of the dormitory door with his invisibility cloak in his arms.

……

Neil subconsciously reached out to stop him, but gave up after thinking about it. He looked solemnly at the note that Harry had dropped on the ground as he was leaving, and the anger in his eyes suddenly warmed up, and he heard a pop, and the note about two meters away from him instantly burned to ashes, and there was not even a bit of scum left.

"Hell, how does this speculation feel more and more like real the more I hear it? Even I'm scared!"

He muttered as he paced back and forth in the dorm room. Matt was careful

Wing Di pushed the door of the broomstick shed open a crack, and a small piece of broom knob poked out of it to secretly observe the situation outside—as smart as it was, it would not choose to jump out at such a time to touch people's heads.

"If Headmaster Dumbledore really chose to send him the invisibility cloak now because he was thinking about it, then this old man's humanity is really bad......

He glanced down at Nikolai's Testament and Ferguel's report spread out on the bedside table, Harry had struggled to figure out the question-asking knocker outside the common room, and when he found him in the dormitory, Neil was studying the contents.

There is nothing left to doubt. If Quirrell ...... Or maybe something that manipulated Quirrell had been reduced to the point where he had to feed on the blood of a unicorn to keep his life alive, then there was only one thing he would want to seek from Nicol Lemay at all costs—the Philosopher's Stone.

This is one of the latter's greatest achievements in the field of alchemy. The two ultimate pursuits of alchemy are eternal life and endless wealth, and the Philosopher's Stone can meet both of these needs. The only known Philosopher's Stone was made by Nicol Lemay, and its whereabouts have become unknown since his disappearance.

Apparently, Nicol Lemay must still be alive, at least until he conspired with Dumbledore to transfer the stone. While Dumbledore promised the other party to keep it safe, he deliberately used it as bait to lure the desperate Quirrell in and make him a whetstone on Harry's path of growth...... What a vicious plan.

Neil sat down slowly.

Previously, he had suggested that Harry and they should use the entrance to the Surveillance Zone instead of stalking the suspect, as the former was relatively safe and less likely to be exposed, but now, the appearance of the invisibility cloak made it extremely easy for both.

Dumbledore was using this tactic to encourage them to put themselves at risk. He threw his prey and hunter into the same narrow tunnel, and then blocked both sides of the retreat at the same time, forcing them to advance from both ends to the middle, and finally duel it out at the midpoint of the tunnel.

"Oh my God, I hate to do that!"

He lifted his mattress and pulled out a flattened animal skin from underneath, with a head shaped like a bear or a wolverine, but judging by the spirit flowing between the furs, the owner of this skin must have been beyond the vulgar category of wild animals long ago.

With a sincere reluctant expression, Neil pinched the two corners with his two hands and lifted the skin and shook it vigorously, and in an instant, the wolverine's head on the animal skin suddenly widened its eyes, opened its shriveled mouth and shouted:

"Evil beasts!"

The deafening sound made the entire dormitory shudder, and the cobalt-blue glass eaglet was almost frightened to fall off its perch and fly around the ceiling in panic. The locks on the broomstick shed were loosened, and the wooden door was opened, and all the brooms inside fell to the ground with a clatter.

Neil wanted to plug his ears, but it was difficult to do so when his hands were not free, so he could only hold the skin as far away from him as he could, and tried to reassure him: "Okay, calm down. I know it's not good to be crushed under the bed for two months, but it's nothing compared to being skinned and made into a magic weapon, is it?"

"Evil beasts!"

Maybe something went wrong with the way of appeasing, and Badger Skin's emotions became more and more excited. The only consolation to no avail is that it has a very nice voice, which even when it is yelling, it still sounds majestic and magnetic, like a justice announcing a verdict in court.

But for those who are being abused, this only adds to their discontent, after all, no one likes to be scolded as convictionally. Neil let go of a hand and slapped the badger in the face with a backhand.

"Remember to eat or not, you, be honest and obedient! Now be quiet, it's time for us to get to work!"

"Evil Beast ......"

The evil nature of the demon beast who is greedy for life and afraid of death, bullying the soft and afraid of the hard is reflected. Although the badger's head was still shouting in a deep bass, its momentum was obviously much weaker than just now.

"That's pretty much it." Neil snorted coldly

, took off his robe, took out the wooden sword in his sleeve and hung it on his waist, and then put the animal skin that was still whispering on his shoulder. The badger gritted his teeth and muttered a few last words, then two clouds of white mist erupted from his shriveled nostrils, enveloping him in the whole.

After a few moments, the fog cleared, but Neil was nowhere to be found, only the dormitory door that opened automatically at some point hinted at the direction he was leaving.