Extreme Bluffing, Going All Out Face-to-Face!

The girl was beautiful.

Even through Ian's genuinely "unfiltered camera" eyes, there was not the slightest flaw to be found. She far surpassed the beautified warriors he had seen on entertainment platforms like Kuaishou.

Her fair skin resembled delicate porcelain beneath freshly fallen snow, carrying a faint sheen. Her exquisite features possessed a cool, aloof air, made even more otherworldly by her platinum blonde hair.

Golden light danced through the girl's hair.

"I've seen you before."

The girl's voice was young and clear.

"Uh, I think that was in Diagon Alley. I bought my wand before you did." Ian recognized the girl before him almost immediately.

Ollivanders Wand Shop.

He had nearly run straight into this girl's cold-looking guardian.

"Is that so?"

The girl neither confirmed nor denied it.

She kept staring at Ian's face.

Her heterochromatic eyes gleamed like gemstones.

"Yes, that's right."

Ian raised his brows.

Being stared at made him a little embarrassed.

He felt as though her gaze had never left his face. Some little girls had looked at him like that before, but none of them had eyes as distinctive as hers.

Ian felt that her beauty was rather dazzling as well.

Even with a face several degrees more handsome than Leonardo DiCaprio's in his youth, Ian still seemed to feel slightly inferior by comparison.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Kraft stepped out temporarily, so I'm looking after the place for him."

The girl finally looked away.

The Kraft she mentioned was probably the bookstore owner's name.

"I'd like to sell these three books back to him, then pick out some textbooks related to Potions." Ian tried to make his smile appear gentler and sunnier.

It was not because the young man's heart had begun to stir. He had an adult's soul and way of thinking, so of course he could not possibly have any thoughts about a little girl barely ten years old.

He simply wanted to leave a good impression.

All for the sake of getting a better price.

Well.

Underage girls and all that.

How could they compare to the appeal of Galleons?

"Selling books and buying books? Of course that's no problem."

The girl's gaze fell upon the three books Ian held against his chest—the books of the Wizarding World were thick and oversized, nearly covering most of his upper body.

"So you're the young wizard Kraft called overconfident."

After seeing the titles on the books, the girl looked at Ian again with an astonished expression.

From her rather impolite words.

It was not hard to tell.

Ian had apparently become one of the bookstore owner's regular jokes.

"..."

Ian's smile stiffened considerably.

"Sorry."

The girl realized that what she had blurted out was inappropriate. She hurriedly stood up and apologized to Ian as though she had done something wrong.

Slap~

The book that had been resting on her lap fell to the floor.

The girl immediately crouched down in a panic to pick it up. Even in her flustered state, she did not forget to offer Ian a sincere explanation.

It seemed somewhat at odds with her cool, aloof appearance.

"I didn't mean to mock you. Those were Kraft's exact words. I was only repeating how he put it... Uh, I do think he was indeed mocking you."

Good grief!

That explanation was worse than no explanation at all!

"Runes are indeed a little difficult for me."

Ian forced himself to maintain his smile. He had not expected this girl, who looked so cold and arrogant on the outside, to give him such an indescribably odd feeling in conversation.

"Yes, they are for me too."

The girl placed the book she had picked up onto the desk and accepted the three books Ian handed over. Only then did Ian see that the book she had been reading was also related to runes.

"Runes Analysis and Research."

He had never heard of that title.

Or rather, perhaps it was not a book at all.

Most book covers bore titles in gold-stamped print, but the title on the cover of the text the girl was reading had been handwritten with a quill.

Could it be a notebook?

In any case, it was definitely more advanced than the beginner-level stuff Ian had bought.

"It's a Third Year elective. I was just curious about it." Ian put on an act and sighed, without showing off that he had already gotten started with it.

During one's studies at Hogwarts, there generally would not be a situation where the tallest tree in the forest was the first to be felled by the wind. But Hogsmeade Village was, after all, a mixed bag.

Pretending to be weak before striking hard was not Ian's style. But neither was showing off indiscriminately without regard for the occasion.

"You're a first-year Hogwarts student?"

The girl's eyes lit up slightly.

"Yes. Ian Prince. Unless something unexpected happens, we should become classmates, right?" Ian remembered that this girl had also bought her wand not long ago.

"Perhaps. The headmaster hasn't approved my application for enrollment yet... My name is Aurora Grindelwald."

The girl was visibly nervous when she introduced herself. Her heterochromatic eyes stared at Ian, leaving him rather confused.

Was she waiting for him to shake hands?

With that thought.

Ian raised his hand toward her.

The girl was clearly stunned for a moment.

Then she hurriedly raised her hand and shook his.

"That's a lovely name."

Ian offered the customary pleasantry. Her surname sounded familiar, yet he could not remember where he had heard it. The answer seemed to linger at the edge of his mind, obscured by a layer of fog.

"Thank you. You're quite brave too."

Aurora seemed to secretly let out a breath of relief.

Her words left Ian baffled.

When Aurora noticed Ian's confused expression, her eyes began to dart away. She hurriedly looked at the three books Ian had placed on the desk.

"Kraft said that if you came to sell the books, I could buy them back for three Galleons."

She was clearly changing the subject.

Ian simply failed to notice.

He only felt a wave of disappointment.

"That old man actually gave specific instructions." Ian had originally planned to tell a small lie to get a higher buyback price, but he had not expected the bookstore owner to be so thorough.

"I kept them in excellent condition, and I only read them for a few days. Perhaps they're worth four Galleons!" Ian still could not help probing.

To his surprise.

"You have a point. Then four Galleons."

Aurora agreed with an astonishingly straightforward nod.

Ian did not know how to react.

"Uh... then could you get me some secondhand Potions textbooks too?" Ian could only swallow the long list of arguments he had prepared.

"Sure, I remember Potions was..." Aurora looked around. Books were piled haphazardly everywhere, and her gaze gradually turned blank.

"I'll find them myself."

Ian saw her embarrassment. Fortunately, he was already familiar with the bookstore. Before long, he dug out Potions textbooks from First Year through Seventh Year from pile after pile of scattered books.

"How much?"

Looking at the stack of books piled nearly half as high as himself, Ian felt nervous. He did not know whether the money left in his money bag, combined with what he would get from selling the runes books, would be enough.

Damn knowledge monopoly!

Corrupt Wizarding World!

Was there no Boss Lei in the Wizarding World who could step up and hit down the price of magical books?

"Let me see..."

Aurora wanted to check the prices on the backs of the books. However, these were all old textbooks, and most of their price tags had long since worn away or been torn off.

At that moment, the cool-looking little girl seemed to have turned into a girl with dot eyes.

"How much do you think they're worth?"

After a long while.

Aurora asked tentatively, pretending to be composed.

"I think... one Galleon?"

Ian answered while adhering to the belief that the shameless were invincible.

"Gasp, if Kraft knew that price, he'd be so angry he'd jump up and hit... hit himself in the face!" Aurora sucked in a cold breath.

Her strange description left Ian confused once again. However, this was clearly not the time for Ian to wonder why Kraft would not hit Aurora instead.

"I'm not buying them. I'm renting them. I'll return them in the end."

Ian naturally did not dare spend one Galleon to take home books worth far more than that. He figured that if he bought a quill, he could copy down all the contents himself.

The Wizarding World had quills capable of automatic transcription.

"He'll notice, won't he?"

Aurora's tone was full of hesitation.

Renting books?

The store did not seem to offer such a service.

"There are countless books here, and he only took over a few months ago. It's obvious he's never organized the inventory. How could he possibly know that you rented some out cheaply?"

Ian lowered his voice.

He began the "reasonable" analysis at which he excelled most. It was not that he could not afford to buy them, but renting was certainly more cost-effective if possible. After all, any one book could only offer so much knowledge.

He was destined to need many, many books.

"Think about it. He cannot even be bothered to cast a simple organizing spell, which proves that this elder of yours does not care about these books. Meanwhile, I am someone who treasures knowledge and cherishes books."

"Miss Grindelwald! You must understand this! The purpose of knowledge is for people to learn from it, not for it to slowly rot away in some corner until it finally becomes a clump of dust!"

Ian had already developed an exaggerated gift for gab back when he set up fortune-telling stalls. His brainwashing speech made the little girl named Aurora widen her eyes.

Her expression was utterly dumbfounded.

The way she looked at Ian was filled with amazement.

"I admire your eloquence, but Kraft definitely won't agree. He cares a great deal about Galleons." After hesitating for a moment, Aurora still shook her head.

"I don't deny that, but clearly neither you nor I knows the prices of these books, do we?" Ian secretly glanced toward the entrance.

Then he put on an incomparably sincere expression.

"As a customer, I definitely don't want to get ripped off."

His words.

Made Aurora nod in agreement.

However.

"But I don't want to get ripped off either."

Aurora's exquisite face was filled with seriousness.

"Of course."

Ian's expression did not change, and his smile remained.

"I don't want to lose out, and you don't want to lose out. So let's discuss renting the books and let your guardian, Mr. Kraft, suffer a little loss instead. How about that?"

"May I ask first, is he your grandfather?"

Ian

"Of course not."

Aurora shook her head.

"He's one of my guardians."

The little girl did not seem willing to reveal anything more.

Still.

It did not matter.

"Well, a guardian works too. Trust me, he won't know which books are missing from the shop. I can even give you three Gold Coins for you to secretly keep as pocket money."

Ian revealed his true intentions.

He used the most vicious tactic against children.

"!!!!!"

Aurora's expression suddenly became incredibly rich. She sucked in a cold breath, and the way she looked at Ian was filled with indescribable disbelief.

"You're actually trying to bribe me?"

Aurora's voice carried a trace of disbelief, and perhaps some excitement as well?

"This isn't bribery, Miss Grindelwald. This is a transaction between you and me." Ian corrected her with a perfectly serious expression, then continued in an even lower voice.

"I'll secretly return the books. By then, it'll be a win-win situation where nothing ever happened. I'll gain the knowledge I want, and you'll gain Galleons to buy lots of Chocolate Frogs."

"Or perhaps you prefer Lemon Sherbets and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Ian felt that children could not possibly resist the temptation of snacks.

The facts proved it.

Aurora's expression indeed wavered noticeably. The aloof air brought by her appearance seemed to dissipate somewhat at that moment.

"I don't know whether this is right, but I don't think I've ever done anything this rebellious before. Perhaps this is what Grandfather said I needed to learn at Hogwarts?"

Aurora seemed to be talking to herself.

"Learn what?"

Ian asked curiously.

The stunning little girl looked up at Ian.

Two words left her lips.

"Cunning."

That was her concluding assessment.

"..."

Ian somewhat regretted why he had opened his mouth and asked.

Still, fortunately, things had not strayed from what he had hoped for.

"I can agree to this deal with you."

Aurora had ultimately been persuaded by Ian. Or perhaps she had not been persuaded by the Galleons at all; she simply felt that doing this could help her obtain some of the things she wanted.

Well.

It was hard to imagine that someone actually wanted to become cunning.

"A wise choice!"

Ian was somewhat excited.

"Here."

Aurora took out a sheet of paper.

She had recorded the name of every book on it.

Then.

She took a Galleon from the counter and handed it to Ian—the money from reclaiming the previous three books. After deducting three rental fees, this was the one Galleon left over.

"Thank you! This helps me immensely!"

Ian thanked her sincerely. If his wallet had not truly refused to allow it, he would not have tried to sweet-talk a little girl. Alas, a single penny could stump a hero.

Before coming here, he had not expected there to be dozens of textbooks across all seven years. And given Teacher Mara's situation, he would surely need countless more books in the future.

"You're welcome."

Aurora replied in a crisp voice.

Suddenly.

She abruptly asked another question.

"Does this make us accomplices?"

For some reason.

It felt as though there was a hint of excitement in the little foreign girl's voice.

"We're friends."

Ian replied with a smile.

"Friends?"

Aurora's gaze grew a little more blank.

However.

It soon refocused on those books.

"Honestly, I don't recommend that you devote yourself too much to studying Potions. It cannot bring you much power." Aurora gave her advice earnestly.

"I'm only interested in it."

Ian began stacking the books one by one, making them easier to carry back. At that moment, Aurora walked to a corner and took a book out of a white backpack.

"Grandfather reminded me that when you make like-minded friends, you need to win people over. I think this will suit you." Aurora walked toward Ian with a book whose cover looked very expensive.

"What is this?"

Ian had already picked up a stack of books. He watched Aurora place that book atop the pile of Potions books, which had already risen completely above his head.

"I have a gift. I can sense that it suits you very well... far better than it suits being kept with me." Aurora's heterochromatic eyes once again fixed themselves on Ian's face.

"Thank you."

Whatever it was.

It was still someone else's gift.

Ian felt that her heterochromatic eyes carried a peculiar pressure.

"I'm heading back. See you in a couple of days."

Ian was preparing to slip away.

"You're the most persuasive person your age I've ever met. You shouldn't live here. You should live in Azkaban. Sooner or later, you might get arrested for fraud."

Aurora waved goodbye as well, though she was also speaking with genuine feeling. As always, she did not hold anything back—she simply said whatever came to mind.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Azkaban isn't so bad, actually. But if I had to choose, Azkaban would just be further study; Nurmengard would be the real graduation."

Ian made a joke.

He struggled somewhat as he carried the towering stack of books toward the door. If not for the Free Fighting skill giving him decent stamina, his small body might not have been able to hold so many books.

"You know about Nurmengard?"

Aurora, who had returned to the back of the counter, suddenly looked up in surprise.

"That's where the First Generation Dark Lord is imprisoned. I know that much, yes. It's probably recorded in the textbooks. I'll go back tonight and check what his name was."

Ian knew these events were recorded in the A History of Magic textbook.

It was simply that he had been busy studying Runes recently and had not looked through any of the other Hogwarts first-year textbooks apart from Standard Spell: Beginner.

The information he was speaking of now all came from memories that had not yet been blurred by the unknown passage of time since his transmigration—memories of a few films he had watched and several Hermione fanfictions before crossing over. In the chapter comments of Hermione fanfictions, he would occasionally see mysterious people Mention Nurmengard in certain situations.

For example, during Sorting.

Or when the protagonist killed someone.

Then some mysterious person would shout about sending the protagonist to Nurmengard.

"Gellert."

Aurora spoke in a low voice.

"Uh, is that it?"

Ian continued walking.

"I don't think I could be mistaken about this. His name is Gellert... Grindelwald." Aurora's words slowly fell.

Ian stopped in his tracks.

The fog over his memories, produced by what felt like far too long spent drifting after transmigrating, was suddenly wiped clean at that moment.

Fuck!

No wonder!

No wonder the name Grindelwald had sounded familiar to him just now!

Hadn't there happened to be a spin-off film related to that name in preparation before he transmigrated?! Hiss! He had actually been stupid enough to call someone's family member a Dark Lord right in front of them!

"Miss Grindelwald..."

Ian turned his head with some difficulty to look behind him.

He discovered that the German Girl was gazing at him with dark, lingering eyes.

"If I said Dark Lord was a compliment, would you believe me?"

Ian forced out a very strained smile.

"You should count yourself lucky Kraft isn't here."

Aurora suddenly seemed to be amused.

She raised a hand and gestured goodbye to Ian.

"But he'll be back soon."

It sounded like a warning.

Ian hurriedly fled with the books in his arms—after running all the way back to the small house Snape had arranged for him, panting heavily, Ian rested for a moment before dumping all several dozen books onto the table.

"Crash~"

A huge pile of books spread across the tabletop.

Among them.

The book from Aurora stood out the most. Its peculiar jet-black cover was streaked with hints of purple, and both its appearance and texture were utterly different from the other old textbooks.

"Secrets of the Darkest Art"

Perhaps the book's title carried some special magic.

It seemed to writhe and twist.

〔PS: Note, this was not some secretive maneuver. The outline was only drafted after this book released its first five chapters on the first day, so the first five chapters were slightly revised following readers' suggestions.

In the films, Grindelwald only appeared in the flashback scene from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2)," where Voldemort interrogated him in prison about the Elder Wand's whereabouts.

He was also Mentioned in the Chocolate Frog card's introduction of Albus Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and this character was rarely Mentioned in early fanfiction works as well.〕