The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

London was as bustling as ever, or rather, the port of the Channel was as bustling as ever. Although Harry had never been here before, everything here was exactly as he had imagined a port to be.

"Did you know? Ports are the easiest places for certain strange creatures to breed..."

Harry didn't understand what Red meant at first, but Red led Harry through a roundabout way to a gloomy middle-aged man.

"Two tickets, no proof required, is that possible?"

"No problem, just pay up."

Red readily paid the money, so readily that Harry began to wonder why Red trusted him so much.

"You have to understand, given the state of this country, they have no control over the dockworkers. So, the people who have replaced the government in managing this area have become certain gangs... The government has the final say, but the gangs always have some tacit channels to exploit loopholes. Otherwise, we probably would have had to get a set of fake documents."

"Then why not just use fake documents? Wouldn't that make it much easier for us to cross the border?"

"Harry, we're smuggling ourselves in now. In a sense, if we're discovered by dark wizards or Death Eaters, they wouldn't mind attacking us to win the favor of the yet-to-be-resurrected Dark Lord. So, our actions naturally need to be more covert, at least..."

Red pointed to his own package, which contained many magical gadgets from the black market.

"We need to be prepared and not walk headlong into someone else's trap, so we must minimize the traces we leave behind... Of course, if you want that entry and exit stamp, we can get it stamped when the time comes, but we can't leave a record, and even if we do leave a record, it has to be under a different person's name."

Disillusion and confusion spells are their most frequently used incantations.

Red and Harry successfully boarded the ship. Their passports and border control documents were so fake that a normal person could spot the problem at a glance. But Red and Harry didn't care at all; a small Confusion Charm that would leave almost no trace would solve the problem.

"Of course, if you'd like to try something different, we could consider crossing the Channel on a flying broomstick when we return from mainland Europe to the English Isles. Everyone knows the Ministry of Magic would definitely prohibit this, but as long as we don't get caught, it won't be considered a crime, right?"

Harry rubbed his hair and finally nodded. He was indeed captivated by the exciting scene described by Red. He wasn't exactly a model student at heart, otherwise he wouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Alright then, let's cross the strait first..."

Red and Harry sat obediently in their seats. The ferry was obviously carrying a lot of cargo, and the ticket inspectors were rather careless, letting Red and Harry board the ship without really checking them.

"Do you think they might show up on the ship...?"

Harry asked with some concern. He had been worried about this ever since Red brought it up. Voldemort's Death Eater remnants had not been completely wiped out. If someone found out that they had come here, especially since they were two young wizards without any accompaniment, given the methods and moral bottom line of dark wizards, they would most likely not let the two children go.

"Don't worry, whether it's a dark wizard or a wizard, they generally don't think much of the creations of what they call 'Muggles,' so they naturally wouldn't consider these issues. Besides, do you really think the two of us are no match for each other? I don't think so."

Red smiled. His soul's detection range was expanding day by day. This rate of growth was more like a gradual "awakening" than actual growth. Fortunately, he knew that his subjective consciousness and cognition were not deviated from any rules. Otherwise, he might have been possessed by a non-existent "Lamp Immortal" one day.

Harry squinted on the ship. The seats they got by smuggling themselves in weren't great, but at least they had a decent seat instead of having to stand.

"Are we finally in France?"

A few hours later, Harry asked this question. He did feel that it was a bit too easy. They hadn't encountered any obstacles, and even the border control had let them through without any trouble. Of course, the Confusion Charm had played a significant role in this, but no matter how you looked at it, it seemed too simple.

"What else do you want? We're getting ready to get on the bus. We need to go to Paris first. At least there will be plenty of things in Paris, and there are people from the Ministry of Magic there. Dark wizards and the like are unlikely to appear openly there."

Red, carrying his luggage, spoke up. Of course, they wouldn't stay in Paris for long, since they were both illegal immigrants.

"Moreover, Master Nico said he still has old friends in Paris... although we haven't been in touch for many years, at least they can provide us with a place to stay. I seriously doubt how long ago he meant by 'not long ago in Paris'."

Harry grumbled, perhaps because of his immortality, Nicolas Flamel's sense of time was so outrageous in certain situations that Harry doubted whether the information he provided would even be of any use.

"Don't overthink it... Let's set off first; it's better than staying here at the port."

For tourists, Harry and Red had a good first impression of France, except that there were still many habitual thieves trying to steal their valuables.

"I knew it..." Harry looked at the address Nicolas Flamel had given him. This place was no longer the clinic it was supposed to be. According to the owner of the antique shop in front of him, the clinic had moved to a different location forty or fifty years ago, and the doctor had long since moved away to live out his retirement somewhere.

"Speaking of which, boss, what era is this thing you're from? Can it even fire?"

Reid pointed to an old rifle hanging on the shop wall, which was definitely an antique among antiques.

"Nonsense, that's impossible to fire. It's from an ancient era... What, you've got your eye on it?"

The store manager looked at Red and Harry suspiciously. He felt that there was something strange about the two customers, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Just asking, give me a price."

The shopkeeper quoted what he considered to be the most reasonable price, and Red didn't bother to haggle anymore, so he just took out the money.

How do you know he's not trying to rip you off?

"I used a little magic here, because I really couldn't be bothered to waste time testing..."

Red casually handed the rifle he had just gotten to Harry.

"Two objectives: repair the gun, and then make bullets that it can use, preferably bullets that can hurt magical creatures."