At five in the morning, Ezio was already awake. He never lingered in bed. After giving Neil a gentle stroke where he slept beside the pillow, Ezio got up.
He stretched, then spent fifteen minutes doing flexibility exercises, loosening up his muscles and tendons until his body was in peak condition.
The shops were still closed, but a few sandwiches he'd bought the night before would do for breakfast. Cold food wasn't ideal in the morning, so Ezio cautiously tried the Fire-making Spell. The flame burned quietly on the floor as it warmed his breakfast.
Neil's breakfast was easy enough to sort out. There was still one rabbit left from yesterday, though the little fellow ate rather slowly. Ezio had finished tidying the room and was getting ready to leave before Neil finally fluttered up to his shoulder and stuck out his head, asking Ezio to wipe its beak.
The bloodied remains on the table were cleaned away with a simple Scourgify. After listening for sounds in the hallway, Ezio pulled up his hood and quietly slipped out of the hotel, just as quietly as he had come.
The sky outside was beginning to lighten. Inside the Leaky Cauldron, all that could be heard was the uneven snoring of drunken patrons. Even Tom, the owner, was nowhere to be seen behind the bar. He must have gone back to his room to sleep.
There wasn't a soul in Diagon Alley, either. The sun, hidden behind the clouds, struggled to cast a little light. Ezio had already surveyed the area the day before. The tallest building in Diagon Alley wasn't Gringotts, but a six-story tower near the middle of the alley that had long since been abandoned. The rotting sign by the entrance showed that it had once been a shop selling Divination supplies. Behind the cobweb-covered display window lay several shattered crystal balls.
With a light leap, Ezio kicked off the wall a few times and silently caught hold of a protruding wooden beam. It was barely four inches long and badly rotten, but his body seemed to weigh nothing. He used it as a foothold and shot upward two or three meters. In just a couple of breaths, he had climbed safely to the top of the abandoned tower.
The foothold at the summit was very narrow, but the space was just large enough for Ezio to stand securely. The wind caught his cloak and lifted its hem. A sharp eagle's cry seemed to rend the clouds concealing the sun. In that instant, Ezio's viewpoint rose into the sky. Neil darted swiftly overhead, and nothing below escaped his keen gaze. A complete map of Diagon Alley appeared in Ezio's mind.
[New Map: Diagon Alley (Unlocked)] [Map Exploration: 27%, Secret Location Discovered: Knockturn Alley Entrance] [New Map: Knockturn Alley (Unlocked)] [Map Exploration: 1%]
Exploring the map didn't earn any trophies or achievements. Its exploration percentage simply helped determine whether there were still places left to discover.
The explored part of Diagon Alley was limited to the commercial street and the shops lining it. At first glance, plenty of the map remained unexplored, but in reality, very little of it was still unlit. Exploration included the interiors of shops, but breaking into a wizard's store was far too risky. Ezio wasn't some hero who kicked in villagers' doors to rummage through their chests for junk. He wasn't obsessive enough to care whether the number reached one hundred percent.
His main reason for opening the map was to confirm the location of Knockturn Alley. As an assassin who moved through the shadows, he was naturally drawn to places like this, where filth and corruption lurked.
Hood up, face covered, even his eyes hidden behind specially made lenses, Ezio was wrapped up from head to toe. That sort of suspicious getup was common in Knockturn Alley. There were plenty of people there who couldn't afford to be seen. He had dressed so carefully as a precaution, after all. The Assassin's Cloak made him less noticeable; it didn't make him invisible. People would see him, but instinctively dismiss him as just another passerby.
That wouldn't work if he entered certain places, such as a restricted area guarded by sentries or a shop that was open for business. And if someone had already set their sights on him—someone planning to mug or rob him, for example—they wouldn't simply ignore him, either.
Still, trying to ambush an assassin was one of the stupidest things in the world.
Unlike the deserted Diagon Alley, people were still moving about in this "black market" of the Wizarding World. They all acted furtively, bundled up in cloaks, headscarves, or all sorts of strange things. Most of them gave off a foul odor: some reeked of Potions, others of plain body odor, and a few even smelled like rotting corpses.
Wizards' disregard for hygiene rivaled that of the Middle Ages, when filth and sewage covered the streets. They had convenient magic at their disposal, yet still managed to leave themselves and their surroundings filthy. The Leaky Cauldron was a perfect example. Perhaps magic had made them disdain anything new that required active effort to pursue. Deep down, these lazy wizards, content with the status quo, seemed to prefer a world that never changed.
Still trying to live in the memories of centuries past? Ezio thought as he discreetly surveyed his surroundings. The Wizarding World was even more conservative and backward than he had imagined.
The second time he passed a dark, narrow side street, his fingers flicked swiftly. Something tiny shot out without a sound. He silently counted to himself, then heard the rustle of clothing sliding down against a wall.
A filthy wizard lay sprawled on the filthy ground, a trace of confusion still lingering in his unfocused eyes. No ordinary human could resist a potent anesthetic that took effect so quickly. With the element of surprise on his side, Ezio had successfully caught himself a prisoner to question.
He took the man's wand and dislocated his joints. Then he successfully cast the Silencing Charm he had practiced several times before.
Silencio. Ezio quietly waved his wand and whispered the incantation.
The fastest way to learn about an unfamiliar place was to ask a local for directions. Whether the person being asked was willing to help was none of Ezio's concern.
Ezio took out a truth serum, though it wasn't the Wizarding World's "truth potion." It was a barbiturate, primarily used as an anesthetic and sedative. With the right questioning techniques, it wouldn't take much for Ezio to pry the information he wanted out of the man.
Five minutes later, Ezio thanked him softly, then broke his neck without hesitation.
"Petrificus Totalus."
"Diffindo."
"Scourgify."
The combination of spells he had tested the previous night made for a thoroughly clean and efficient way to dispose of the evidence.
"Magic really is convenient."
Ezio narrowed his eyes slightly and decided where to go next.
Before you continue