Under the guidance of the Albanian Auror, Severus and Sirius quickly arrived near the Aurors' tents.
An elderly man, seemingly having also heard the commotion of the sparks outside, was stepping out with a puzzled expression.
Seeing him, Sirius instinctively lowered his head, averting his gaze, not daring to look Nicolas directly in the eye. Severus, upon seeing Nicolas, naturally just smiled.
The Albanian Auror who had brought them there turned and left hurriedly after delivering them, so Severus could address Nicolas by na without any reservation.
"Long ti no see, Mr. Flal."
"It's only been two weeks since we last t. Not that long."
As he spoke, Nicolas looked down at Sirius, who couldn't et his eyes, a sowhat teasing smile on his face.
"It seems you've already t?"
At this, Sirius could no longer play the turtle hiding in its shell. He looked up and t Nicolas's gaze, the voice from the No. 3 Radio sounding sowhat subdued.
"Sorry, Mr. Flal."
Nicolas just waved his hand.
"No need to apologize to , Black. You just used your own thod to solve the problem. You suffered a bit in the middle, but the result was good, wasn't it?"
He didn't seem to mind Sirius's abrupt departure, "Everyone has their own habits, whether good or bad."
Saying this, he looked up at the cluster of red sparks in the sky, "What happened at the ruin?"
Severus answered.
"They discovered two Aurors are missing."
"Aurors missing?" Nicolas narrowed his eyes slightly, "Shall we go take a look as well?"
Severus certainly wouldn't refuse.
So, after eting up with Nicolas, they returned to the entrance of the ruin.
Almost all the Albanian Aurors stationed here had gathered. Kabunara was taking a headcount for the second ti, his face finally turning dark as he confird that two of their mbers were indeed missing.
And these two were precisely the Aurors who were on the last watch duty inside the ruin last night!
"They're not in the ruin. Where else could they be?"
"Search! Search the surroundings! We must find them, dead or alive!"
Under Kabunara's orders, the Aurors began to split into groups and search the surrounding forest.
At that mont, Nicolas suddenly walked over to Kabunara and asked softly,
"You discovered they were missing this morning?"
Troubled by a pile of issues and now this problem within the Auror ranks, Kabunara was even more distracted and irritable.
But when he turned and saw Nicolas, his expression softened involuntarily.
The translated copy of the alchemical symbols Nicolas gave him last night was very valuable.
When he brought it back to the Ministry, the alchemists within Albania treated it as a treasure.
This had helped him regain so honor in front of the Minister, all thanks to Nicolas.
"Yes, Mr. Williams," Kabunara nodded, "According to the shift schedule, the people assigned to relieve them found them gone from underground."
Nicolas pondered.
"The two missing gentlen... I passed by them last night when I was leaving. Their behavior... was sowhat strange."
Kabunara's face turned grave.
"Strange?"
"Yes." Nicolas nodded calmly, "I rember them. One of them, when greeting , spoke in a tone that didn't match his usual habit. But I didn't think much of it at the ti."
"You an... it's possible they were replaced when they went underground for their shift yesterday?" Kabunara's voice held a note of alarm.
"It's just a guess," Nicolas said softly, "Or I could be mistaken."
Even though he said that, Kabunara couldn't simply dismiss it as Nicolas's misperception.
After sharing his observations with Kabunara, Nicolas returned to Severus's side.
"After receiving your letter, I ca here with Black as soon as possible. Firstly, to help you, and secondly, to bring him to confront you, to see if my judgnt was correct."
As he spoke, he said teasingly to Sirius,
"It seems the facts prove I was right."
Sirius just kept his head down, unsure if he had nothing to say or was too embarrassed to speak.
"Why not change back to human form, Black? If you're too ashad to see , that's really not necessary."
"He was affected last night by the potion brewed from the recipe Grindelwald gave ," Severus explained for the speechless Sirius.
This made Nicolas blink with a subtle, knowing expression.
"The potion that solidifies magic?"
"Yes."
With Nicolas's knowledge, just a few seconds of thought were enough for him to understand why Sirius was stuck as a dog.
Looking at Sirius again, then seeming to think of sothing else, Nicolas looked up at Severus again, finally tutting and saying,
"That potion is no simple concoction. Reversing this solidified magical state won't be easy. You'll probably be a dog for quite a long ti."
Even though he had heard it from Severus yesterday and was ntally prepared, having this fact confird again by Nicolas made Sirius feel a wave of depression and unease.
He wouldn't believe a single punctuation mark from Severus, but the sa words coming from Nicolas's mouth were entirely different.
"Where can I find the antidote?" Sirius asked.
Nicolas just shrugged.
"That potion isn't a poison. Moreover, the recipe was previously only in one person's hands. It's impossible for others to have developed a corresponding antidote. Right now, the only Potioneer who holds the recipe is Severus, and the only person who could possibly develop an antidote is him."
"If you want to turn back into a human, you'd better start buttering him up from now on."
Just hearing such words, let alone acting on them, made Sirius grind his teeth in frustration.
"Then I'd rather be a dog for life!"
His words only made Severus and Nicolas exchange a smile. Then Severus got down to business.
"So, do you have results from your research on the mural?"
"Very fruitful," Nicolas nodded, "The mural's surface depicts the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, but the underlying alchemical symbols contain a complete construction guide for a specific alchemical object. Based on your description of the silver whistle found deep in the ruin, it seems to be ant for that."
This information naturally excited and encouraged Severus.
"Excellent!"
Seeing his reaction, Nicolas then added with a serious expression,
"Although I still don't understand your specific purpose in coming to this forest, I must warn you, Severus, the legend of the Fountain of Fair Fortune circulating here is definitely problematic."
Severus certainly understood what he ant.
Perhaps the Albanian Aurors were a bit slow, but after encountering the Basilisk, Severus had already deduced the master of this underground ruin.
Who else, in the era before the Common Era, in this land near Ancient Greece, could build such an underground ruin and cultivate a basilisk that lived for so long?
Aside from the legendary progenitor of Dark Wizards, Herpo the Foul, Severus really couldn't think of anyone else.
Herpo the Foul.
The earliest and most famous ancient Dark Wizard in recorded magical history.
The first Basilisk was created by him.
The first Horcrux was made by him.
Even many modern Dark Arts are more or less influenced by his research.
As a wizard who had studied Dark Arts extensively during his student years, Severus was certainly familiar with this foundational figure of Dark Arts.
And the underground ruin he left behind, bearing a mural of the Fountain of Fair Fortune story, with an object suspected to lead to the fountain hidden deep within...
What kind of good intentions would such a notorious Dark Wizard have, leaving behind a fountain that brings good luck to later generations?
So, even without Nicolas's reminder, Severus had known from the mont he entered the ruin that the legendary Fountain of Fair Fortune hidden in Albania was definitely not sothing good!
Even if it could bring temporary good fortune, it would co at a much heavier price.
However, Severus hadn't co here for any fountain. His goal had always been solely Voldemort.
And the clues Voldemort left now clearly pointed towards the legendary fountain.
Severus didn't know what Voldemort, currently in a weakened, disembodied state, was trying to do. He couldn't even be sure if what Voldemort was doing now had happened in the original work.
After all, from the very beginning of his arrival in this world, Severus had been making significant moves. Perhaps the butterfly's wings had flapped just enough to cause a major deviation in this mostly isolated forest.
"Don't worry, my goal isn't that fountain. Even if we do find it in the end, I won't use it."
Severus stated firmly.
Nicolas, of course, had no reason to doubt his words. He said with a smile,
"Then let's go. Let's see what that silver whistle you found is for."
But just as they were preparing to Disapparate and return to the riverside troll camp, the Albanian Aurors searching for their missing comrades made a discovery!
"Director! We found them! We found them!"
The shouting voice was full of fear. Kabunara turned around hurriedly. Severus and the others also looked back, seeing the Aurors returning with two corpses, their faces ashen, looking as if they had been dead for a while.
Seeing this, Severus and Nicolas chose not to stay any longer. They Disapparated with Sirius back to the troll camp.
Once there, Nicolas asked Severus in a low voice,
"Can you guess who did it?"
Severus narrowed his eyes and said softly,
"Anyone is possible. Perhaps so wanted Dark Wizard roaming Europe. Perhaps an opposing force from Albania attracted by the fountain legend. Or, of course, it could be soone with the sa goal as ."
Nicolas didn't press further, seeming his curiosity on the matter ended there.
Bringing Nicolas into their tent, everyone, Draco, Harry, and Lupin, was delighted to see Nicolas again in a foreign country.
Nicolas himself seed to quite enjoy the environnt and atmosphere. He laughed heartily, greeting the children and even pulling candies from his pocket to share with them.
After so ti of reunion and conversation, he finally followed Severus and Lupin into their research lab and obtained the silver whistle.
Holding the whistle, examining it for a long ti, the knowledgeable master alchemist gave his assessnt.
"A rather crude piece of work, but sowhat inventive in concept."
Lupin asked from the side,
"Can you tell what its function is?"
"The alchemical symbols on it are the sa as those I found on the ruin's mural. Their aning is 'summoning'," Nicolas said.
Severus and Lupin exchanged a glance. Then Severus turned back to Nicolas and said,
"In the Fountain of Fair Fortune's legend, a golden unicorn leads the fortunate to the fountain's location. We previously guessed this whistle's function is to summon that unicorn."
Nicolas took a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped the silver whistle.
"Your deduction is reasonable and likely correct. However, the reason you couldn't blow it before is that the alchemical etchings on it were incomplete."
"Can you repair it?"
"Ha, that's why I ca here. If I couldn't manage such a simple task, I'd have wasted my ti in that underground ruin."
As he spoke, Nicolas began pulling various strange little tools from his suitcase.
"Give two hours. Such a crude product won't take much effort. It'll be done in no ti."
Severus and Lupin didn't stay to disturb him further. Just as they finished preparing lunch outside, exactly two hours later, before anyone could call him out for the al, Nicolas erged from the research lab holding the silver whistle, which looked identical to before but was now fully repaired. He handed it directly to Severus.
"It was too easy. With the corresponding alchemical symbols, you could find any alchemy apprentice anywhere to repair it for you, though it would take them longer."
Severus accepted the silver whistle. He didn't inspect it imdiately but instead invited Nicolas to join them for lunch first.
After lunch, he and Lupin finally took a proper look at the repaired alchemical device.
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