The Unbreakable Vow

Sagreles and Nightingale appeared directly before the cabin shown in the vision. There, they saw the two Dark wizards who had just appeared in the crystal ball.

Both Gypsy wizards were women. They wore necklaces strung with finger bones and magical trinkets made from skulls, while the infant corpses hanging from their waists gave off waves of rot.

The two of them were pacing back and forth outside the cabin with wands in hand, their brazen behavior drawing repeated glances from the Muggles in the nearby village.

Yes, they had not even cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm!

The Statute of Secrecy was virtually meaningless to these Gypsy wizards. They roamed freely across Europe, and because they had no nationality or fixed residence, even the International Confederation of Wizards was unwilling to devote extensive manpower to bringing them to justice.

After all, these Gypsy wizards would never surrender meekly when faced with capture. They possessed countless curses and Dark Arts items, and attacking Muggles and wizards was as routine to them as eating and drinking.

Naturally, they could not enter the cabin at the moment. It was a Safe House belonging to Bronze Feather, and without an invitation, no one could force their way inside.

This time, before Sagreles could act, Nightingale raised her wand at the pair.

A violent surge of magic abruptly gathered and condensed in the air.

The two Dark wizards had only just noticed someone casting a spell when a dense cluster of sharp ice spikes burst from the ground, instantly skewering them into hedgehogs.

Sagreles raised an eyebrow and stepped around the frozen corpses to the cabin door.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

"Creak~" The shabby wooden door was yanked open, and a short witch with wine-red hair poked her head out from the doorway. The moment she saw Nightingale and Sagreles, a delighted smile appeared on her face.

"You're finally here! I've been stuck here for nearly a month!"

The short witch sprinted toward Sagreles, only to have her momentum halted midway by an Impediment Jinx.

She froze for a moment. Red Kestrel, who had intended to give him a hug, immediately abandoned the idea after seeing Sagreles's indifferent expression. She picked another target instead and ran toward Nightingale.

This time, she was greeted by a Freezing Charm.

"Haha, what trouble has the little troublemaker gotten into this time?" An elderly voice came from behind them along with the crack of Apparition.

The group did not need to look to know that the newcomer was Thunderbird, one of the headmasters of Ilvermorny, the American school of magic.

"Who are you calling a troublemaker?"

"I wasn't talking about you..."

"Then who were you talking about?"

"I was talking about—a troublemaker..."

"Then you were talking about me!"

Sagreles and Nightingale were used to it. This old man and young girl practically started bickering every time they met. It would have been strange if they did not.

The four temporarily gathered in the cabin, and the reason they had come here was quite simple.

About a year earlier, Sagreles, who had just joined Bronze Feather, wanted to find a wand that suited his hand. Red Kestrel had divined for him with a somewhat playful attitude, only for a "true prophecy" to emerge in the end.

The prophecy stated that Sagreles and Nightingale would obtain materials for four wands from a magical ruin, while Thunderbird would craft the wands for them.

Over the past year, the four had spent considerable effort on this matter. Now that the time to reap the rewards had come, Sagreles had to make certain nothing went wrong.

"Before we act, I think everyone needs to understand the purpose of this trip." He looked at Red Kestrel and Thunderbird, his tone calm.

"You all want a powerful wand, but everyone should have heard the story of the Elder Wand—Antioch Peverell, the Elder Wand's first master, was ultimately murdered for flaunting its power.

"After that, the Elder Wand seemed to fall under a curse. Its successive owners survived for no more than five years on average."

Sagreles swept his gaze over the other three and told them sternly and coldly, "So that we do not fall into endless trouble in the future, whether this operation succeeds or fails, everyone must make an Unbreakable Vow to ensure that the secret of our wands is never revealed."

Red Kestrel opened her mouth, but in the end, she did not dare say anything.

Sagreles glanced at her and emphasized, "Not even to other members of Bronze Feather!"

She shrank back a little and cautiously asked, "What if I accidentally let it slip?"

"The spell will warn you at a critical moment. But if you are still worried, you may choose to place this memory in my care."

Red Kestrel nodded and said no more. Seeing that no one objected, Sagreles directly cut open his palm.

A tiny crystal vial caught a drop of his blood. The other three also cut their palms, each drawing a drop of blood and placing it in the vial.

"I, Sagres Greengrass..."

The other three spoke at the same time.

"I, Villis Nixia/Balikna Wolf/Irisa Lumina:

With the stars as witness, and blood as the covenant,

Once the secrets of our wands are touched upon, the covenant-bound must keep their mouths sealed;

They must not reveal them through speech,

They must not record them in writing,

They must not hint at them through magic;

Any who leak them shall perish as their bloodline withers, and any who betray this oath shall die as their magic dissipates;

From this moment, the oath shall forge itself into shackles,

And shall end only when the last oath-taker is laid to rest in the grave."

As the four finished their vows, the blood in the vial immediately transformed into golden threads and flew out, winding around each of their index fingers before sinking into their skin and vanishing.

The vow had been made, and the Unbreakable Vow took effect from that moment onward.