After teleporting away, Shawn returned to neither Wenge Castle nor his old family home.
News had come from Tom-or, more precisely, from Theodore.
The entrance to the Temple Ruins they were currently excavating would likely be cleared by the end of the day.
With two days left before Hogwarts started term, Shawn decided to use the gap to visit Albania.
Some things were more reassuring to see in person. This temple, suspected to belong to Herpo the Foul, would affect many of Shawn's future decisions.
Besides, with a trump card in hand, he was not afraid of dying-pah! He meant he was not afraid of the chaotic fighting that could erupt at any moment.
So Shawn exhausted the magical energy stored in an entire storage card to perform a large-scale intercontinental Apparition, appearing directly in the Albanian Forest.
Using the locator magical runes engraved in Tom's alchemical puppet body as his coordinates, he appeared right beside the Temple Ruins.
At the edge of the excavation site, Tom quietly watched several wizards carefully clearing away the remaining rubble and soil in front of the temple doors.
He suddenly sensed a violent disturbance in the surrounding space, as though an enormous hand had twisted the air.
A trace of wariness appeared in Tom's gloomy eyes. He drew his wand while probing the disturbance, then relaxed.
The intercontinental Apparition caused such a commotion that it drew the attention of the wizards guarding the area.
As Shawn materialized, he saw wand after wand aimed at him through the blurred, distorted air. Three preemptive Petrificus Totalus spells came hurtling toward him.
Tom made no attempt to warn them, perhaps hoping to enjoy the show.
Shawn raised an eyebrow and swept his bare hand through the air, dispersing all three spells with a surge of powerful