The rain was getting heavier.
Baker Street was like it was being submerged in a giant water tank. Raindrops hit the pavement and bounced up, forming a thin layer of mist that blurred the light from the streetlights and shop windows into hazy halos.
The floodwaters on the street had overflowed the edges of the drainage ditches, forming shallow, rapid streams that flowed downhill.
At the east end of Baker Street, in front of a closed pharmacy, six figures in dark uniforms huddled under a huge dark green parasol.
The umbrella was originally placed at the entrance by the pharmacy owner in the summer to provide shade for customers. It was large enough to cover a four-person dining table, but now, with six people crammed inside, it still felt cramped.
Rainwater cascaded down the edge of the umbrella, like a small waterfall, separating them from the outside world.
"Why didn't any of you bring umbrellas?" the youngest of the six complained.
His name was Eric, and he came from the Ministry of Magic in Northern Europe. His short, light blond hair was plastered to his forehead by the rain, making him look like a scarecrow that had just been pulled out of the water.
"You make it sound like we don't want to bring them," a brown-haired woman next to her retorted irritably.
Her name was Marianne, and she came from Gaul. The shoulder seams of her uniform jacket were soaked dark by the rain.
"We only had four hours between receiving the notification from the International Confederation of Wizards and departure."
"Four hours! I didn't even have time to pack a change of clothes into my suitcase."
"Exactly." Another tall man named Thomas chimed in. He was from Hans Country and spoke with a slightly nasal tone.
"Who has time to carry so much stuff? I didn't know London's weather was so unpredictable, it could rain any minute now. When I left, the sun was shining in Frankfurt."
"Don't even mention it," Marianne sighed, turning her coat collar up even higher, letting the chill of the rain seep down her neck.
"The coffee I bought in Paris this morning got completely cold before I even had a chance to drink it in London."
Eric shrugged, put his hands in his uniform pockets, and glanced at the sycamore trees on the street, their branches drooping under the rain.
"It's because none of us have exchanged our currency for Great Britain pounds. I only have crowns in my pocket right now, not even enough to buy a hot dog. Does anyone have pounds?"
The five people were silent for a moment, then shook their heads.
"No."
"I didn't change it either."
Who would have thought they'd be staking out London for several days?
"Can't the International Confederation of Wizards give us some travel allowance?"
"They didn't even give us the complete map, and you're expecting subsidies?"
The six of them sighed in unison.
The sighs, mixed together and scattered by the rain, still conveyed a clear sense of helplessness.
The sound of rain filled every inch of the surrounding space. Occasionally, a few cars would drive by the street corner, their tires splashing water onto the six people as they drove over puddles, eliciting bursts of complaints from them.
They huddled under the large umbrella, each of them huddled together, and continued their conversation in fits and starts.
"When will this rain finally stop?" Eric looked up at the sky, but the umbrella blocked his view; he could only see rainwater trickling down the edges of the umbrella.
"The forecast says it won't stop tonight," Marianne replied, her tone carrying a resigned calm. "That's just how the rain is in London; I heard it can go on for days."
"Several days?!" Thomas's voice rose slightly. "So we're just going to stand here like this?"
"Otherwise?" Marianne glanced at him sideways. "You want to take shelter from the rain in that bookstore across the street?"
"It's full of Muggle. How do you plan to explain the six of us foreigners in matching uniforms standing motionless in their store?"
Thomas opened his mouth, then swallowed his words.
Eric turned his gaze away from the edge of the umbrella and listlessly surveyed the blurry silhouettes on the street.
The pharmacy was closed, and most of the windows of the row of houses across the street were dark, with only a few lights on and the curtains drawn tightly.
The whole street looked like a gray silhouette washed by the rain, and there was no sound except for the sound of rain.
Just then, something came into his view.
A figure carrying a black umbrella is walking from the other end of the street.
It was hard to see clearly through the rain; only a slender silhouette could be discerned, the hem of a black trench coat billowing in the rain.
The man held a large black umbrella, his steps leisurely and unhurried.
"Huh, are there still people outside in this heavy rain?" Eric asked instinctively, his voice tinged with curiosity.
Upon hearing his words, the other five people stopped all their movements almost simultaneously.
Thomas was the first to pull his hand out of his pocket, and Marianne straightened her back instantly.
The other three people—a black wizard from the Lighthouse Country, a young female wizard from Kangaroo Country, and a middle-aged male wizard from Maple Leaf Country —all spontaneously abandoned their lazy demeanor from their conversation.
All six of them turned their gaze into the rain, but apart from Eric, the other five were standing a bit far from the street and couldn't see anyone clearly.
Eric could tell that the person wasn't walking fast, and the umbrella was pulled down low, making it difficult to see their face, but judging from their build and gait, they were a young person.
He wore a well-tailored black trench coat with the collar slightly turned up. The hem of the coat was blown up and down by the wind, drawing a dark arc in the rain.
Allen waded through the puddles, his boots making a crisp sound as they stepped through them.
He saw the six figures standing under the parasol through the rain, and his steps faltered slightly.
Six people...
He continued walking forward without making a sound, but the magical senses within his body had already quietly spread out.
The rain pattered against the umbrella, and his senses, like an invisible net, spread toward the six people.
All of them are at the seventh rank!
Ugh, Allen suddenly felt a sharp pain in his tooth.
He silently did the math in his head.
He currently has a fifth-tier magic reserve, and with Flitwick's max-level combat skills and Quirrell's Nonverbal Spellcasting experience, his overall combat strength is probably close to the sixth tier.
That's right, even though he used Lockhart's character card, his magic power was still at the fifth level, which shows how unbalanced Lockhart was.
And each of the six people in front of them is a genuine seventh-level expert.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He could manage to hold his own against one level seven opponent using his skills and experience, barely against two, but against six... he probably wouldn't last more than ten breaths in a head-on confrontation.
Fortunately, he possessed an unparalleled Memory Charm.
Lockhart's character card has less than fourteen minutes left. The accuracy and efficiency of the Memory Charm are indeed unparalleled, but the problems are also obvious.
The Memory Charm is a single-target spell that can only be used on one person at a time.
If he casts a spell on one person and the other five people immediately become alert, then the latter five cannot be dealt with simultaneously.
However, that was just a regular Memory Charm.
Lockhart's Memory Charm was unparalleled.