Halloween Eve

The three Basic Meditation Methods he had acquired this time were nothing special. They were all fairly common methods on the market, and Matthew had seen someone selling them at the Exchange Meeting Lady Alsha held last time.

There were no restrictions against reselling these common Basic Meditation Methods, so they did not cost much. He planned to put up a notice offering them for sale at the next Exchange Meeting and wait for the right buyer.

After taking stock of the magic, Matthew took the half-man-high, entirely pitch-black shield out of his pocket. The Wizard Tool was quite large, and ordinary Wizard Apprentices without Spatial Storage Type tools would find it inconvenient to carry. Matthew, with his Extendable Pockets, had no such concern.

Matthew cast Invisible Hand. An invisible hand gripped the shield's handle, and the pitch-black shield floated in front of him. He controlled the invisible hand to circle around him, and the shield spun around him in midair.

Matthew was very pleased that Invisible Hand could control the shield. It gave him more ways to defend himself, and a large shield like this would be extremely useful in a melee involving several people.

As for the Kingdom Gold Coin Notes and Property Deeds, they would be difficult to sell for the time being. Jack was a Noble Wizard, and his death would certainly attract attention. On top of that, the Missing Persons Case in Whitestone Town was now connected to Old White. To be safe, Matthew would wait until things had died down before dealing with the notes and deeds.

The eight Magic Stones, however, posed no such concerns. They were a considerable fortune, and he could buy more things at the next Exchange Meeting.

At the Security Station, in the morgue.

Old White's corpse lay on a long table. All the faces on his body had their eyes closed now, silent and lifeless.

His body had already been dissected, leaving the table in a gruesome mess.

Two hooded figures stood in the room. One, a black-robed wizard, was busy at the table with a scalpel. The other, a Gray Robe Wizard, stood farther away and did not lend a hand.

"This Mutant's condition is different from the others," the black-robed wizard said with certainty.

The dissection was nearly finished. The black-robed wizard set down the scalpel, took off his Lizard Skin Gloves, and tossed them into a basin nearby.

"Was this Mutant stronger than the previous ones?" the Gray Robe Wizard asked calmly.

The black-robed wizard dipped his hands into a washbasin and scrubbed them. "He was stronger, yes. But this time, we couldn't extract any Divine Brew from the corpse."

The Gray Robe Wizard pondered for a moment. "Could the Mutant have completely absorbed the Divine Brew?"

The black-robed wizard picked up a cloth and dried his hands.

"That's possible, but I don't think the Divine Brew is so easily absorbed.

"In our previous experiments, we were always able to extract Divine Brew from the Mutants.

"I didn't find anything special about Old White.

"The Old White Mutant evolved to be stronger this time simply because he absorbed more flesh-and-blood sacrifices."

The Gray Robe Wizard had no ideas either. "Record the details and report to headquarters."

The black-robed wizard nodded and tossed the cloth into the basin. "The problem now is what to do about Jack the Waste. Old White shouldn't have been exposed so soon. Jack was too impatient—he had Old White hunt sacrifices far too often."

"Jack has gone missing, and the White Ancestral Home was burned down. The fire couldn't be put out with water," the Gray Robe Wizard said quietly.

The black-robed wizard paused. "You acted so quickly?"

The Gray Robe Wizard shook his head. "It wasn't me. But I know Jack well. He couldn't cast a fire like that. Most likely, someone else killed him."

The black-robed wizard curled his lip and said, displeased, "Jack just died out of nowhere. You've been in Whitestone Town for a while now. How could there still be such a gap in your intelligence?"

The Gray Robe Wizard said solemnly, "You know as well as I do that Link is like a burr that won't come off. Ever since he arrived in Whitestone Town, he's been investigating us."

"Can't we just get rid of him? He's such a nuisance!" the black-robed wizard asked. "But he's the leader of the Investigator Squad. Acting rashly would draw the Court Wizard's attention."

"I'm making arrangements," the Gray Robe Wizard said slowly. "I won't leave any loose ends."

Tomorrow was Halloween. Hogwarts was holding a Halloween Eve Banquet tonight.

Matthew had ended his Meditation Method practice early so he could attend the banquet.

By now, he had nearly finished learning the magic he had picked up at Jack White's house.

But his progress with the Meditation Method had slowed considerably lately. He was missing a potion that could help him practice it.

To advance the Aemon Basic Meditation Method to Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, he needed a potion that could briefly increase his magic vitality: the Magic Vitality Potion.

But Matthew hadn't found the recipe for it in Whitestone Town, so he could only rely on slow, steady accumulation to advance to Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

However, the Halloween Eve Banquet reminded Matthew of another potion: the Potent Vitality Potion.

The main ingredient in the Potent Vitality Potion was Troll Blood. Drinking it restored one's stamina and had the added benefit of increasing magic vitality.

Matthew had no Troll Blood stored in his Extendable Pockets, so he couldn't brew the Potent Vitality Potion yet. But there was a living Troll at Hogwarts right now. From what he remembered of his previous life, someone would let it loose when the banquet began tonight. It would be a great opportunity to get some Troll Blood.

Matthew left the Room of Requirement and headed downstairs toward the Great Hall. The young wizards he passed were all hurrying there excitedly, too.

He unexpectedly ran into the trio at the entrance to the Great Hall and asked in surprise, "You haven't had a fight?"

Confusion filled Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces as they all replied in unison, "Huh?"

Matthew stroked his chin. Had the wings stirred by the butterfly that was me affected things?

He had been busy learning new magic and practicing the Meditation Method lately, and hadn't paid them much attention. The timing of their falling-out had actually changed.

That's a good thing. No one will get in the way when I deal with the Troll later, Matthew thought to himself.

Matthew smiled. "It's nothing. I was just saying hello."

The three exchanged glances, then replied, "Good evening, Matthew."

Matthew asked, "Where's Neville? Why isn't he with you?"

Ron wore a helpless expression. "Trevor's gone missing again. Neville went to look for him. He was worried there wouldn't be anything left to eat later, so he asked us to save him some food and told us to go on ahead."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. He suddenly remembered that he'd promised to teach them Summon Familiar before, but he'd been so busy lately that he'd nearly forgotten.

Next time, for sure, Matthew thought to himself.

The group entered the Great Hall together. It had already been decorated for Halloween. Bats flew beneath the ceiling, and quite a few pumpkin lanterns floated in the air.