Making a Pact

The next time Avada met Baron was after the Christmas holidays.

During those ten-plus days of vacation, Avada had been somewhat restless. The only thing he could do was visit the Room of Requirement every day to check on Professor Baker's status and ensure no other accidents had occurred.

Finally, upon seeing the palm-sized piece of parchment Baron brought back, along with the few rough clauses written on it, Avada let out a sound of confusion:

"This is what you called an 'absolutely foolproof contract'?"

"Oh, this is just the table of contents."

Baron said calmly, then tapped the parchment lightly with his wand. With a "pop," it expanded out of thin air to several times its thickness, and then Baron began to unfold it, and unfold it, and unfold it...

Eventually, a piece of parchment the size of a carpet was spread out completely before Avada, and the dense, tiny text on it made his scalp tingle after just a single glance. Under his Magic Sense, the magical structure contained within this contract was so stable, vast, and complex that it far exceeded the contract he had signed at the Department of Mysteries.

"My family's house-elves, in addition to their daily chores, also participate in some family business affairs—because they are absolutely loyal and will not leak secrets, even Legilimency and Veritaserum are difficult to use against them. Therefore, some of them have researched magical contracts very deeply. With my supervision, there shouldn't be any problems. Read it through and see."

"You have several house-elves at home?" Avada was somewhat surprised: even old noble families like the Malfoy Family and the Black Family only had one elf!

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?"

Baron found it strange that Avada would ask such a question, then pushed the contract toward Avada, urging him to read it quickly. Avada had no choice but to lie on the floor in despair, transfigure a quill into a magnifying glass, and begin reading it word by word—there was no help for it; to ensure the integrity and solidity of a magical contract, a single contract usually had to be contained on one piece of paper.

It took him several full hours to finish reading the contract—when he raised his head, his vision blurred, and his brain nearly suffered from a lack of blood.

This contract imposed comprehensive restrictions and constraints on Professor Baker's identity, history, behavior, subjective goals, and many other aspects: if Professor Baker could satisfy the condition that he had never intentionally and actively harmed an innocent person from the time he became an adventurer until now, and that the tasks he needed Avada and Baron to perform were not overly dangerous to them, and would absolutely not harm anyone other than Professor Baker himself and the "fake Baker," and then after completing the goal, he would not engage in threats, silencing, or deleting or modifying memories to harm Avada and Baron... and a whole series of other requirements, then this contract would not harm Professor Baker in the slightest.

Correspondingly, this contract also placed certain constraints on the actions of Avada and Baron, such as not actively leaking things that at least two of the three deemed "not to be shared" without permission, and, before Professor Baker was freed and provided the risks were controllable, doing their best to help Professor Baker complete his goals, and so on.

The entire "carpet" of definitions and restrictive conditions made the whole contract airtight; once signed, there was no room to find loopholes or use the rules to achieve goals outside of the agreement.

Avada felt that even if the Horcrux Diary were here, as long as he signed this contract, Avada would dare to help it possess the main body of Voldemort!

Thus, on the night Avada finished reading the contract, he and Baron returned to the Room of Requirement and presented it to Professor Baker.

Half an hour later.

"I've finished reading it."

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Professor Baker's voice seemed somewhat weary, and even his mental energy felt a bit sluggish: "Very detailed... no, it's simply too detailed. Even those dark wizards who specialize in contract fraud usually can't come up with such detailed clauses!"

"However, it is reasonable. If you are willing, you can sign it with me now. You should know how to sign a Mental Imprint Contract, right?"

"Of course."

Avada and Baron nodded—Baron had already told Avada the signing method beforehand.

"Very good, shall we begin now?"

Professor Baker said lightly, and at the same time, streaks of blue starlight began to ripple within the black crystal ball, as if it contained a universe. Avada also sensed that Professor Baker's mental energy was being projected through the crystal ball onto the contract, quietly waiting for the two of them.

Baron held his breath, staring at a complex and wondrous rune on the contract. Guided by that rune, his mental energy was also projected onto the contract, overlapping with Professor Baker's mental energy. Seeing this, Avada followed suit and projected his own mental energy as well.

Suddenly, the parchment shone brilliantly, and a powerful, strange magic surged from within the contract, entering directly into their mental essences along with their mental energy, leaving behind an imperceptible imprint. Once any of them harbored thoughts of violating the contract, the imprint would send a warning to the others; and if someone truly violated the contract, they would suffer an immediate backlash from the imprint.

The imprints on Avada and Baron were fine; the backlash would only leave them severely injured. But for Professor Baker, the backlash would be enough to cost him his life!

Feeling the magical imprint firmly embedded within his own mind, Avada couldn't help but marvel that the Mental Imprint Contract was indeed powerful; even he, with his Magic Sense, couldn't think of a way to break it for the time being!

As the light on the parchment gradually faded, Avada, Baron, and Professor Baker all let out long sighs of relief, and the whole person (or ball) was visibly relaxed—they were now a team that could trust one another.

"Since the contract has been signed, we can finally communicate with peace of mind and speak openly."

Professor Baker's tone revealed a clear sense of lightness: "Mr. K, Mr. Shafiq, your magical proficiency has long since far exceeded the level of a first-year, hasn't it?"

"In order to confirm how to formulate the plan best suited for you, please show me your strength completely and without reservation."

"I have mastered all the spells, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge for years one through three on my own," Baron said first: "Besides that, I also know two dark arts. One is a variant of the Freezing Charm, and the other can quickly heal any limb trauma, but it causes a severe backlash after a few hours."

"You know dark arts too?" Avada glanced at him sideways.

"My family taught me, saying it wasn't safe for me to be out on my own."

"..."

Avada suspected there was a Seer in the Shafiq Family—the vast majority of people believed Hogwarts was the safest place in all of Britain, and before Harry Potter enrolled, that was indeed the case.

"As for me,"

Avada also began to explain: "In addition to all the magic from years one through three, I have also mastered the Shield Charm, Stunning Spell, Confundus Charm, and Impediment Jinx. Furthermore, I have a Mental Link spell that allows me to communicate directly with others in my mind."

"Very good!"

Professor Baker was overjoyed: "Your strength is even beyond my expectations! This means that the 'other me' will have very low vigilance toward you, creating many convenient conditions for you!"

"It's fortunate that it was the two of you who found me. If it had been other wizards who weren't young but weren't strong either, I might have had to go to much more trouble..."

"Then, let me talk about my plan. If you have any questions, you can bring them up, and I can adjust them according to your needs—anyway, you've left me with plenty of room to maneuver."