Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 98 Actually, I'm just a sniffer

"Just count three tiles up from the top of the trash can, then two tiles horizontally, and tap it three times with your wand. That will open the entrance to Diagon Alley... Got it?"

"Okay, thank you so much—I'll have a chocolate, please."

To thank Stan Sampark for telling him how to open the entrance to Diagon Alley, Avada bought a chocolate bar for the five-second journey. And to avoid attracting the attention of Muggles, the Knight Bus only stopped in a small alley a few dozen meters from the Leaky Cauldron, so that Muggles wouldn't see a person suddenly appear on the street.

The Leaky Cauldron bar was much more spacious inside than it appeared from the outside, but that didn't change the fact that it was crowded and dirty. The patrons were either sitting or standing, some shouting loudly with their glasses in hand, while those chugging from the bottle were barely able to shout, only swaying and mumbling incoherently. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol and tobacco, making it feel like you couldn't stay there without putting something pungent in your mouth.

The old man standing at the bar, skillfully mixing drinks while laughing and chatting with the customers next to him, must be the current owner, Old Tom. I wonder if any mysterious legends about the owner have circulated in the Leaky Cauldron since Dumbledore revealed Voldemort's real name.

Avada hoisted his suitcase high and squeezed sideways through the crowded throng, finally escaping the awful stench of alcohol and smoke before entering the bar's backyard.

"God, hopefully Hannah can keep this place a little cleaner after she takes over..."

Avada recalls the quiet demeanor of her fellow Hufflepuff classmate, finding it hard to imagine that she would one day be chatting away with a group of drinkers in a thick dialect, just like Old Tom.

He shook his head, not thinking any further, took out his wand and tapped the unfortunate brick three times as Sampark had instructed. The wall immediately creaked open to reveal a bustling and wide street.

"It's been over two years since I enrolled, and this is the first time I've walked into Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron..."

While inwardly grumbling, Avada went straight into Flourish and Blotts to buy the textbooks he needed, glancing around to see if he could run into anyone he knew—unfortunately, he didn't.

To avoid peak times, Hogwarts sets the mailing times for students of different years separately, with a gap of about a few days between each year. The third year is particularly special—since course selection directly affects future career paths, most parents will discuss it with their children for a long time before making a decision, which takes several more days.

Avada went to Diagon Alley on the very day he received the letter, which resulted in almost no other Hogwarts students on the street.

"That's good... at least I won't be bothered with questions about Voldemort anymore," he muttered to himself.

The impact of sealing Voldemort was much smaller than Avada had imagined—after all, he had been missing for eleven years before this, and people had become accustomed to life without Voldemort, believing that he was either dead or critically injured and beyond saving…

Therefore, apart from the Hogwarts students being terrified upon learning that they had spent a year with Voldemort and being especially grateful to Avada and the other involved parties, the impact of this incident on the magical society was even less than Dumbledore's public statement on the theory of bloodlines. No one had even noticed Avada when he entered the Leaky Cauldron.

……

"Are they using Lockhart's books as textbooks in third grade too?"

Upon seeing the book list in Avada's hand, the owner of Flourish and Blotts widened his eyes in surprise: "It seems this year's Defense Professor is a die-hard Lockhart fan... But the 'Dark Forces: Self-Defense Guide' series has been used for so long, isn't it a bit hasty to suddenly replace it for the entire grade? What about those fifth-year students who have exams to take?"

"Who knows? Anyway, there must be a reason why Professor Dumbledore hired him..." Avada scoffed and casually agreed.

"That's hard to say."

The shopkeeper rolled his eyes: "Didn't the mysterious man take advantage of the situation last year? He was so weak that he could defeat a few students, yet he still managed to fool Dumbledore... It seems Dumbledore is getting old too."

"Wait a minute, speaking of which, you look kind of familiar... Oh! You're that... "

"Shh, shh."

Avada quickly gestured and lowered his voice, "Keep your voice down, we're just here to buy a book..."

Just kidding, he's going to infiltrate Gringotts later!

"Okay, fine."

The boss coughed awkwardly, but his gaze toward Avada changed slightly before he turned around and packed the books he would need for the new school year—a total of about ten books including electives, which filled most of his suitcase.

So, after leaving Flourish and Blotts with his now heavy suitcase, Avada immediately found a secluded corner to hide in. First, he stuffed the cumbersome suitcase into his Unseen Stretch Spell pocket, then cast the Disillusionment Charm and the Bubble Charm on himself to ensure he was safe. Finally, he cast the Boundless Charm and entered the spatial interlayer.

He skillfully mounted his broom, observing the magical structure of his surroundings in absolute darkness. After confirming that there was no magic in Gringotts that could pull him out of the spatial rift, he piloted his flying broom into the underground vault...

"My God, did Gringotts hollow out the entire basement of Diagon Alley?!"

Avada rode his broomstick straight down at full speed, flying for an unknown amount of time before finally spotting a large mass of dense life force—it was definitely the fire dragon.

The fire dragon had over twenty vaults around it, but only one contained a magical void. If a goblin hadn't fallen asleep in that vault, it would undoubtedly be Hufflepuff's Cup. Avada, after getting closer and clearly seeing the familiar Horcrux magic on it, was completely relieved.

"Everything inside, except the golden cup, seems to be enchanted with a scorching and duplication spell. If I just barged in, I'd be engulfed in a pile of scalding treasure and burned to death. Luckily, I brought my flying broom... Hmm?"

Avada was about to jump out of the spatial interlayer when he was surprised to find that his mental power was blocked by an invisible force, and he could no longer penetrate the space.

"An apparition restriction? No, it's far more complex than the one at Hogwarts!"

"These characteristics are... for humans, fairies, giants, house-elves, phoenixes, and ball-eating birds..."

"Dozens of features! The mental power of almost every creature in the world that could possibly use Apparition has been banned! And these spells, when combined, don't cause the slightest interference or conflict..."

"As expected of a bank run by a fairy with a rich history, its security is indeed stronger than anywhere else."

Avada sincerely praised the fairies for their emphasis on customer safety, then pulled out the FM lens he had made last semester: "But it still couldn't stop me."

"As long as the technology for full-band mental shielding or space reinforcement has not been invented, no restriction can stop me."

He had previously directly set the Pokémon's psycho-structure on the lens because the school's Pokémon were in the kitchen, which he could see every day and easily imitate. But in this case, he could completely modify the structure emitted by the lens to something entirely new... like a Niffler would be great?

After some adjustments, Avada became a Niffler in the eyes of the Forbidden One, but it was never told to intercept the Niffler's mental power—so Avada appeared in the Lestrange family's vault without any trouble and obtained the Cup using a flying broom.

"That completes the main task for this summer. Then, once we have control of the diary next semester, we can truly begin researching how to extract the soul fragments from Harry's body..."

"What should we do with the rest of the time? Maybe we should look through Nicolas Flamel's notes beforehand?"

(End of this chapter)