A fine drizzle fell over London, but Trafalgar Square was as bustling as ever.
On a stage set up in front of the fountain, Shawn had returned to perform magic tricks, surrounded by a vast crowd packed shoulder to shoulder.
Ever since his last "vanishing person" trick, Shawn's fame in London had grown, so even more people had come to watch today's outdoor performance, their enthusiasm greater than ever.
A dazzling ring made of playing cards revolved slowly behind Shawn. He interacted with the audience, constantly sending cards shooting out in every direction.
Once those cards reached the space above the audience, they hovered in place and slowly spun, a truly wondrous sight.
Many parents hoisted their children onto their shoulders so they could reach for the floating cards.
Every so often, a lucky child managed to grab one of Shawn's specially made, autographed playing cards.
Delighted, the children shouted, "Shawn, we love you!"
Shawn smiled knowingly onstage as he watched the occasional one or two points of level 2 Faith Value accumulate in his system.
It turned out that winning children's affection was the easiest way to farm faith.
His delight lasted only a moment before his expression soured a little. He had just spotted figures appearing through Apparition at the back of the crowd, probably Ministry of Magic officials.
However, they did not approach him with a warning.
Thinking it over, he figured he was merely exploiting a loophole: he only channeled magic to assist his tricks and never actually cast any spells. He did not even dare use the Levitation Charm or Avis.
Otherwise...
He glanced at the latest haul of 800 points of level 1 Faith Value and 90 points of level 2 Faith Value.
Shawn quietly clenched his fist. He had no intention of giving up his identity as a magician. He was only performing in London for now. Once he could perform throughout England and around the world, wouldn't the Faith Value come pouring in?
For now, though, the greatest obstacle to continuing his magic shows was the International Statute of Secrecy.
If he wanted to use more spectacular magic to assist his performances, he would inevitably break the law.
The problem was simply that Shawn did not yet have the strength or influence to harvest Faith Value openly.
He sighed, showed off a few more ordinary magic tricks, then addressed his enthusiastic audience.
"That's all for today's show! Over the next year, I'll be working in seclusion on even more spectacular magic tricks. See you next summer!"
With that, Shawn swept his hand upward. Hundreds of playing cards once again formed four Pentagram Shields, slowly revolving around him. A second later, Kreacher appeared within the shield formation and vanished with Shawn through Apparition.
The playing cards burst apart like a sky full of stars, spraying in every direction. The entire audience went wild, scrambling to snatch the falling cards.
Entertainment in the nineties was simply too scarce, so collecting Shawn's special playing cards had recently become extremely popular in London.
In the crowd, a little girl with bushy blond hair kept jumping and shouting excitedly.
"Dad, Dad! Help me grab Shawn's cards! I've almost got a whole deck!"
"Ha ha! Hermione, your dad got you three more!"
"But... but that's still not enough for a whole deck!"
"Don't worry. I'll buy the rest from other people. I'll definitely get you a complete deck as a present for starting school."
At the back of the crowd, the two officials from the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Magic Office exchanged looks after Shawn disappeared.
"Nall, do you think that little fellow broke the law?"
"It was a house-elf. That probably doesn't count, does it?"
"Ahem. What about when he used his innate magic to control the cards earlier? Does that count as breaking the law?"
"Hmm, probably not. He didn't trigger the Trace, after all, and none of the Muggles suspected it was magic."
Their exchange carefully skirted the real issue. In truth, both had already decided not to charge Shawn.
The return of the Black family's heir was no secret. Although the family had not produced anyone active in public for a long time, and much of its wealth had been appropriated by others, that did not change everything.
The network of connections it had woven in the past still carried considerable weight, and the Blacks were related to many officials from pure-blood aristocratic families.
Two ordinary Ministry of Magic employees had no reason to offend Shawn over such a trivial matter, especially when he was a prodigy who could already channel magic silently and without a wand at such a young age.
Enforcement of Ministry of Magic laws was extremely flexible. In the original story, Minister Fudge had similarly swept Harry Potter's inflation of his aunt under the rug, while Arthur Weasley had made sure to leave himself a loophole when amending the law on the misuse of magical objects.
So the way these two Ministry employees enforced the law was understandable enough.
Shawn teleported into a bedroom in an ordinary house, his previous base of operations.
His magic-show assistant, Albert, was already waiting there. He looked puzzled when he saw Shawn coming down from upstairs.
"Shawn, you...?"
Shawn waved a hand to cut him off.
"Never mind that. Just listen to what I have to say."
Albert scratched his balding head without asking any more questions. He had great faith in the boy's abilities. He had once been down on his luck, and Shawn had given him a chance.
"All right. What would you like me to do?"
Shawn handed Albert a briefcase and a stack of documents.
"Here's a million pounds and information on some companies. Set up an investment company, then start investing in the companies on my list, either by acquiring stakes or buying shares."
At that time, a million pounds was an astronomical sum.
Albert accepted the briefcase with trembling hands and stared at Shawn in disbelief.
He was astonished that Shawn had suddenly become so wealthy, and moved by the trust the boy had placed in him. Only after a long while did he solemnly reply.
"Yes, boss."
Shawn was very pleased with this capable, balding middle-aged man. He had assessed both Albert's character and his abilities, and the man was worth cultivating.
He had never intended to abandon his affairs in the Muggle world. This could also be considered preparation for his future "grand objective."
As for where the million pounds had come from, that was simple enough. He had merely picked out a few nonmagical antiques from the Black family's stores, all of them hundreds of years old.
"Boss, what should the company be called?"
"Hmm, register it as Card Throne. I'll invest more later. Keep up the good work. I believe in you."
"Oh, and I won't be living here anymore. I'll contact you if anything comes up. All right, that's everything."
After leaving those instructions, Shawn headed upstairs, leaving Albert behind with a wistful expression. He silently resolved to work hard so he would not betray the immense trust Shawn had placed in him.
On the second floor, Shawn took the Polyjuice Potion Kreacher handed him and added a hair he had secretly taken from Albert earlier.
Watching the Polyjuice Potion turn into a sticky black liquid, Shawn suppressed his disgust and drank it down in one gulp.
The muscles in his face began to ripple, and his body slowly grew taller until he looked like Albert.
He changed into a set of adult clothes, then put on a black cloak that concealed his head and face.
"Master, why must you go to Knockturn Alley yourself? There are many dark wizards there. It's dangerous. Why not let Kreacher go instead?"
Shawn took the briefcase containing Galleons and alchemy materials from Kreacher.
"This transaction is very important to me. Whether many of my plans can succeed depends on this operation. If a familiar face like yours handles it, that old pure-blood bastard at Borgin and Burkes will know I sent you. That would complicate things considerably."
Kreacher immediately began blaming himself again.
"It's all Kreacher's fault for being useless. Kreacher deserves to die..."
Before Kreacher could punish himself, Shawn gave him an order.
"Didn't I give you a task?"
"Er, yes, Master. I'll go buy Felix Felicis and the other potions right away."
"Hmm. Take me to Knockturn Alley first."
Kreacher hurriedly grabbed Shawn's hand.
Whoosh.
The two vanished instantly from the upstairs bedroom.
It was not until three in the afternoon that Shawn returned to the Black family home.
Dealing with a shrewd, greedy old wizard was exhausting work. Getting him to carry out Shawn's requests and keep them secret had cost quite a bit of money.
Still, Shawn felt it had been worthwhile. He barely rested after returning before throwing himself back into his studies. Whatever his schemes and his "objectives, great and small," he would ultimately need strength to see them through.
In the study, Shawn looked at the books filled with notes and annotations. Without a teacher to guide him, they were about as close to foolproof instruction as he could get. Even the rises and falls in pitch when reciting spells were clearly annotated.
Although learning white magic still did not come particularly smoothly, it was not as difficult as studying the Standard Book of Spells textbook.
In the mornings, he studied general charms and practiced magic. In the afternoons, he worked through his other textbooks on his own.
More than ten days passed like this, and Shawn learned quite a few general charms.
He was making progress, certainly, but one problem continued to puzzle him, and he had yet to find an effective solution.
That was the issue of his magic's elemental nature.
Shawn's affinity for the lightning element was maxed out, so all his spells inherently carried lightning properties.
Even without any Lightning Charms to learn, he still infused the lightning element into every other spell he cast.
It was as though Kunikuzushi had possessed him.
With offensive spells, that was naturally no problem. It gave his spells electric-shock and paralysis effects, making them even more effective against enemies.
But when he used nonoffensive spells, things went horribly wrong.
For example, when he used Scourgify, the furniture did get clean, but its surfaces were also covered in little scorch pits.
When he used the Levitation Charm, the objects he floated also suffered minor surface damage.
Shawn did not know how to restrain this Lightning Element magic. However, he knew that accomplished wizards like Grindelwald could freely control even more destructive dark magic such as Fiendfyre.
So, besides his regular studies, Shawn had recently been searching the library's collection for relevant information. Unfortunately, he had found very little.
As the days passed, time flew by. One week before school started, at around three or four in the afternoon, Shawn was still practicing spells in the underground training room when Kreacher suddenly came to report.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is here to visit. He is waiting in the square."