What Do You Think?

Anton's mood was terrible, and he was down all day.

He realized the Old Wizard had led him astray.

In a moment of agitation, he had instinctively cast the Cruciatus Curse.

He felt Azkaban beckoning to him.

"If this keeps up, I really will end up living in Azkaban." Anton sighed toward the sky, wondering whether he should find a way to get himself a gun so that his instinctive reaction would not be firing off an Unforgivable Curse.

The world of magic was far too wondrous; sometimes, things truly could not be taken for granted. He had thought he needed to maintain the extreme emotions required for Dark Magic in order to cast spells smoothly and without obstruction.

That was wrong. He had been in a perfectly good mood, but when he got worked up, his emotions surged in an instant, and the curse came out as naturally as breathing.

The Old Wizard had not lied.

This guy might really have changed.

He had become someone who loved life.

Floating outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, he smiled as he watched the Young Wizards eating ice cream, his eyes filled with the particular kindness of the elderly. Sometimes, the Young Wizards would gather their courage and run over to touch him, but he did not get angry.

Oh, so the evil Old Wizard had become a good person.

And he had become an Evil Dark Wizard?

"What a joke. Only after dying did you think about truly living." Anton's mockery did not move the Old Wizard in the slightest. He started playing his head-tossing game again, drawing shrieks from the children on the street.

With an unhappy look on his face, Anton arrived at Gringotts, where the Goblin Ragnok once again greeted him warmly.

After putting the Old Wizard's diary and the three textbooks back, he pulled a book list from his pocket and quickly searched the shelves for reference books and a small quantity of potion ingredients.

Yes, he had agreed to the Old Wizard's deal.

He had officially become this Dark Wizard's Apprentice, learning Potions from him.

A ghost could not form an Unbreakable Vow with him. The Old Wizard candidly admitted that he could not restrain Anton's actions and could only use "a teacher's love and devotion" to influence Anton's decisions.

What the hell.

Damn it!

The materials needed for the introductory lessons were quite extensive, filling an entire backpack.

As Anton walked through Diagon Alley, he hesitated for a moment before returning to Flourish and Blotts.

He ultimately bought the first-year Herbology and Potions textbooks, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and Magical Drafts and Potions. He also bought Newt's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

He even made a special trip to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, where he spent the steep price of twenty-six Galleons on a set of magical dentures as a gift to thank Old Tom for taking care of him during this time.

Under his influence, Old Tom had developed a passion for Chinese cuisine. Anton felt that with the dentures, Old Tom should finally be able to properly enjoy the delicious food he made.

Old Tom was delighted.

So, he slung on his backpack and picked up his Flying Broomstick.

Time to go.

"Exchanging Galleons for Muggle currency at Gringotts is a huge loss," the Old Wizard advised as he floated beside him. "You can go to a Wandering Wizard camp."

"At Gringotts, one Galleon can only be exchanged for five Pound Sterling, but at the camp, you can get ten. If you meet someone who is not short on money, you can sometimes even get fifteen to twenty Pound Sterling."

Anton froze. "Why don't they just exchange it at Gringotts themselves?"

The Old Wizard shrugged his headless shoulders. "Fugitives, registered Dark Wizards, non-human creatures, sources of money they do not want anyone to know about... there are far too many reasons."

"Compared to Galleons, Dark Wizards find it much easier to obtain Muggle currency. You know, all it takes is stepping over the line just a little. There are always ways to avoid being discovered by the Aurors."

"The nearest place is Carmela's Coffee Shop, located inside a cave in the middle of barren mountains. The witch Carmela always has channels for acquiring a certain amount of Sickles. Over time, everyone came to like exchanging currency there."

A cave, a coffee shop, a witch...

Anton wore a strange expression. For some reason, he thought of Sun Erniang's human-meat steamed bun shop from Water Margin.

There was no need to think about it. That place was surely full of danger.

"Put on a mask, pull up your hood, find some ink to blacken your hands, then stuff a pillow under your shirt. That way, no one will take you for a child, but rather a strange, shriveled little old dwarf." The highly experienced Old Wizard gave him more advice.

"Put three drops of toad venom in your mouth after crushing it together with Horned Leaf, and your voice will become hoarse and deep. Just gargle with overnight egg white mixed with Horned Leaf juice to recover."

Anton looked at the Old Wizard in amazement. "None of that was in your diary."

The head in the Old Wizard's hand gave a chuckle. "I stopped keeping a diary when I was twenty. It was only during the next fifty-odd long years that I gradually accumulated this knowledge."

"Believe me, it is especially difficult for a young wizard to survive alone. You will discover that you cannot do without me."

Anton's feelings were complicated.

He could not forget the time the Old Wizard had tortured him, nor could he forget the terror and breakdown of facing death at any moment.

But neither could he reject the Old Wizard's goodwill.

The reason was the same in both cases. He only wanted to live well, nothing more.

Suddenly, Anton had a Heart's Stirring. "How did I become your Apprentice?"

Seeing the Old Wizard's strange expression, Anton added, "Your Cruciatus Curse still has side effects on me. I don't remember my past memories."

The Old Wizard's expression was clearly peculiar as he looked at Anton with a half-smile. "A single father brought his young son to a chaotic camp. Perhaps the father had been single for too long, because when he saw a lovely young woman, he could not restrain the stirrings in his heart. So he died in bed, and he died very happily."

"He probably did not understand the rules of Wandering Wizards. Beautiful women must never be touched. He ran into a Centaur who could brew Polyjuice Potion, lost his life, and his son was sold to me for ten Sickles."

Anton raised an eyebrow. "That really is a sad story."

"No, no, no." The Old Wizard raised a finger on his left hand and wagged it. "That child died two months ago."

"???" Anton was instantly seized by a chill, staring blankly at the Old Wizard.

"Died...?"

Holding his head in his right hand, the Old Wizard gently arranged his hair with his left. In a faint, ghostly tone, he said, "At the time, I was researching the Demon Summoning Spell. Although not even the dumbest Dark Wizard would believe in such a spell, I happened to have a child's corpse on hand as a sacrifice."

"Later, the child came back to life, perfectly healthy." The Old Wizard gave a sinister chuckle. "There was an explosion at the time. The whole laboratory was blown apart, and all the potion ingredients went flying everywhere. I originally thought I had made a mistake, that the child had merely been in a state of suspended death."

"But later, when that child could not be killed even after enduring countless Cruciatus Curses, it truly made me wonder whether the experiment had actually succeeded."

The Old Wizard lifted his eyelids and stared at Anton.

"What do you think?"

Think your ass!

Dark Wizards were indeed Dark Wizards. Anton's mind was a complete mess. In the end, he merely lowered his Flying Broomstick in silence and looked toward the barren mountains below.

"We're here."

The Old Wizard only let out a harsh, grating cackle.