The Fool in Hogwarts

The next day, Vade took the stage as a new performer.

To conceal his identity, he deliberately wore a mask.

Looking at the audience below, who were full of curiosity about a child like him, Vade introduced himself and began his magic show.

Playing cards fluttered around him like butterflies brought to life.

Then he raised both hands as though conducting them. The cards formed a Christmas tree, Father Christmas, a reindeer, and a child in mid-air, one after another, drawing waves of cheers from the audience.

The first performance ended amid thunderous applause and cheering. William enthusiastically pulled him into the office.

"How did you do that?

"The theatre prepared all those props. I know perfectly well that they could never produce a performance like that."

"Boss, if you were a magician, would you tell a theatre the secret of how you made your living?

"The props prepared by the theatre are only the basics. The real secret remains in my hands."

"Vade, I’ll give you one thousand pounds. Tell me how the trick works."

"Only one thousand? Do you think I’m that cheap?"

"Three thousand. No, five thousand pounds.

"That’s no small sum. I’m being very sincere."

"Sorry, but I promised the teacher who taught me magic that I wouldn’t reveal his secrets."

"That really is a shame." William looked deeply regretful. "You’ll leave the theatre once the Christmas holidays end. I can already imagine how much money I’ll lose."

Vade shrugged indifferently. He activated his Spirit Vision and examined William’s emotions. The red representing excitement was mixed with the dark shade of melancholy, showing that he truly hated to lose his new cash cow.

"If you change your mind, come and make a deal with me at any time. I promise I’ll offer you a fair price."

"Thank you, boss."

William shook his head in amusement, then took several banknotes from his pocket. "This is your payment for the performance. It’s a little less on the first day, but once word spreads, it will gradually increase."

Vade accepted the money happily. Although the purpose of performing on stage was to digest the potion, this was still money he had earned through his own hard work.

"Will tomorrow’s performance be another card display? Do you need me to prepare anything else?"

"Boss, I understand what you mean.

"But large-scale illusions require a great deal of preparation. There simply isn’t enough time.

"Besides, I’m only here to earn some pocket money, not to become a professional magician. There’s no need to make it so elaborate."

"All right." William looked even more disappointed. "I would love to see a more spectacular magic show, but I can hardly demand more from a child."

"There are many kinds of close-up magic, and they can be just as impressive. I won’t disappoint you, boss."

Over the next week or so, Vade performed mind-reading, vanishing acts, underwater breathing, flame manipulation, and other tricks on the theatre stage.

Under the guise of stage magic, he performed real magic and quickly built up a great deal of popularity. The Magician potion also underwent a certain amount of digestion amid the cheers of an ever-growing audience.

Although the progress was only around ten per cent, it was still enough to delight him. Even if acting as a Magician was difficult at Hogwarts, he was confident that he could fully digest the Magician potion during the summer holidays.

After finishing his time working at the theatre, Vade made another trip to Diagon Alley before term began.

He entered the familiar, bustling street through the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. After taking a breath of air that could hardly be called fresh, he began buying supplies from the shops.

He purchased basic metals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead, along with various catalysts and additives, spending more than one hundred Galleons.

His funds dwindled rapidly. Gritting his teeth, he returned to Gringotts and withdrew all four hundred Galleons stored in his vault.

He had no choice. The Sequence 6 potion formula alone cost one thousand Galleons. Without withdrawing the money, he could not even afford the formula.

"Money may be a bastard, but you really can’t do without it," Vade lamented silently.

Both potions and alchemy could make money, but according to his plans, it would take at least two or three years of preparation before he could earn anything through either of them.

For now, he could only make money through divination, and that was little more than a drop in the ocean. Not everyone was as generous as Quirrell.

He needed to find more sources of income. If he continued developing at this measured pace, money would eventually become the greatest obstacle to his growth.

As he thought about this, Vade suddenly realised that he had wandered into a dark, narrow alley lined with dilapidated buildings and steeped in an oppressive atmosphere.

Knockturn Alley.

Vade stopped, and the name surfaced in his mind.

Knockturn Alley lay beside Diagon Alley. It was a gathering place for Dark wizards and the black market of magical Britain, somewhere even the laws of the Ministry of Magic held little sway.

"Are you lost, child?" A middle-aged witch in shabby robes approached him with a smile.

Vade activated his Spirit Vision and looked at her. He nearly vomited in disgust.

The colours of her outer bodily aura appeared relatively healthy, but every part was stained with a dull, inky green. His initial judgment was that her mind and will had been severely corroded by Dark magic, making her entire presence feel gloomy and corrupted.

Her inner emotional aura was black tinged with green. The malice within it was almost overflowing, completely at odds with the smile on her face.

As for the innermost layer, her magic resembled a burning hearth, placing her at the level of an ordinary adult witch, though its flames appeared extremely weak.

"No. I merely wandered here by accident.

"Sorry to disturb you. Goodbye."

Vade had just begun to step back when he saw a wand pointing at him. His expression immediately darkened.

"That’s hardly fair. Strictly speaking, I haven’t even entered Knockturn Alley yet."

"Child, you need to understand something.

"A lawless place and a lawless person are two different things. A Dark witch may consider the risks of what she intends to do, but she will not care where she does it." The witch smiled sinisterly. "Besides, strictly speaking, you are currently between Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. If a young wizard disappeared here, no one would notice."

The witch pushed Vade into Knockturn Alley. The style of this commercial district was entirely different from Diagon Alley, with its cold atmosphere, narrow streets, grey sky, and pedestrians whose eyes were filled with obvious wariness.

Vade followed the witch’s directions as they turned into progressively deeper alleys, silently calculating the likelihood of killing her instead. Barring an accident, it was one hundred per cent.

Even so, if he was going to turn the tables on a criminal, he could not do it in the middle of the street. He was not wearing any disguise, and the moment he acted, he would expose his strength.

He should have attacked before entering Knockturn Alley. Now the situation had become slightly more troublesome.

After twisting and turning through several alleys, the two of them arrived outside a house. The witch finally dropped all pretence, opened the door, and dragged Vade inside.

Within was a moderately sized sitting room. Two middle-aged wizards, both dressed in similarly shabby robes, sat around the fireplace warming themselves. When they saw the two unexpected arrivals, they both froze.

"Knock, Hannah, knock. When are you ever going to break that habit?"

"Probably never." The witch gave a cold laugh. "I was lucky today. I found some prey wandering around alone."

(To be continued.)