A month later.
Knockturn Alley welcomed an unusual visitor: Tom, the proprietor of The Leaky Cauldron.
Everyone knew that Knockturn Alley was one of the darkest and most dangerous places in the magical world. The wizards who frequented it were typically outcasts or criminals, fiercely suspicious of any strangers.
The moment Tom appeared at the mouth of the alley, the usual bustling noise died down instantly. All eyes locked onto him. Some wizards froze mid-trade, while others stealthily reached for their wands. A tense, eerie atmosphere hung heavy in the air.
Soon, whispers began to ripple through the crowd.
"Isn't that Tom from The Leaky Cauldron?"
"What on earth is he doing here?"
"Something feels off about him today."
"Up to something, do you think?"
A heavily scarred wizard with a vicious expression stepped forward and sneered, "Well, well, Tom. What brings you to a place like this? Looking for a thrill?"
Tom completely ignored the provocation, his hand gripping his wand tightly, his expression practically screaming, "Leave me alone." He knew that in a place like this, any unnecessary conflict could spell trouble. While he wasn't afraid of these outlaws, he had no desire to invite trouble for no reason.
Of course, nobody was eager to provoke him without cause. After all, Tom was the owner of The Leaky Cauldron and held considerable influence in Diagon Alley. Better not to tangle with him unless absolutely necessary—better to figure out what he was really after first.
Several cloaked figures began trailing Tom from the shadows, trying to suss out his true intentions. They watched him from the dark, waiting for his next move.
Tom walked slowly through Knockturn Alley, his eyes scanning his surroundings. He passed a small shop selling dark artifacts, where a wrinkled old wizard stared at him suspiciously. For reasons unknown, a smug look flashed across Tom's face, though he didn't stop and simply kept walking.
Next, he passed a store specializing in forbidden books and illegal potions. The door stood half-open, venting a pungent odor. Tom glanced inside and mentally noted the location, figuring it might come in handy later.
Suddenly, a few dark wizards emerged from a side street, blocking his path with sinister grins. One of them demanded, "Tom, what is your game here?"
Tom gave them an icy look and replied in a chilling tone, "Just taking a stroll. No particular game."
The dark wizards clearly didn't believe him, but they didn't dare act rashly either. After all, Tom's standing in Diagon Alley was not to be underestimated. They exchanged glances and ultimately decided to step aside, letting him pass.
Tom continued forward, threading through narrow alleys and winding past dilapidated houses. He seemed to have no destination in mind, merely wandering aimlessly through the quarter. A few minutes later, he found a secluded exit and slipped out of Knockturn Alley.
Left completely baffled by Tom's bizarre behavior, the outlaws clustered together, whispering among themselves, trying to figure out what his visit had been all about.
***
"Woohoo!"
Back in his room at The Leaky Cauldron, Tom—or rather, Devereux—threw his arms up and cheered.
That's right: the "Tom" who had just paraded through Knockturn Alley was actually Devereux, transformed using Polyjuice Potion! It had taken him a full month of grueling effort to brew that potion. Now, he had finally pushed his remaining exploration progress of Diagon Alley up to the finish line—and even a bit beyond, reaching a cool 70%.
The moment he passed the first shop in Knockturn Alley, the system had chimed to announce the completion. But he'd gotten a bit greedy, wondering if he could push the percentage even higher by just maxing out the whole area right then and there. Instead, he hadn't expected to actually get intercepted halfway through by a couple of thugs. After barely managing to bluff them into backing off, he'd had to beat a frantic retreat.
*Note to self: never push my luck like that again.*
He had figured that since it was early morning, the dark wizards wouldn't be awake yet. He hadn't expected there to still be so many of them. In Devereux's opinion, they weren't early risers; they simply didn't sleep!
Still, he had managed to max out the exploration progress. Devereux waved a hand to bring up his attribute panel.
...
【Name: Devereux Alexander】
【Age: 11】
【Status: Unenrolled Hogwarts Student, Potion Apprentice】
【Spells: Levitation Charm (Mastered/Non-verbal + Verbal), Summoning Charm (Proficient/Verbal), Alohomora (Proficient/Verbal), Apparition (Novice/Verbal), ..., Full Body-Bind Curse (Proficient/Verbal), Stunner (Proficient/Verbal), Disarming Charm (Proficient/Verbal) 】
【Affixes: Time-Traveler (Unique), Magic Prodigy (Unique), Potion Genius (Gold), Adept Culinary Mage (Purple)...】
【Affix Library: Unique (2), Gold (2), Purple (2), Blue (55), Green (451), White (8232) 】
【Pet: Eld (Pouch-Toad)】
【Items: Spell Mastery Card x1, Affix Upgrade Card x1, Wand (Rosewood)】
【Magical Realm Exploration Count: 1】
【Realm: Diagon Alley — Exploration 70.1%】
...
Over the past month of study, Devereux had mastered several jinxes and the Disarming Charm, giving him a bit of self-defense capability when facing dark wizards. Apparition, however, carried a bit too much risk; he hadn't dared practice it much, terrified of splinching himself and ending up done for.
Oh, and then there was the issue of the Trace.
Actually, Devereux had anticipated this the very first time he got his wand. Having read the original books, he certainly didn't want to get expelled before he even set foot in school—turning his first day of school into his last day of school.
Fortunately, Devereux possessed the innate Wandmaker affix. He had spent a few days consulting a handful of books on wandcraft and easily managed to block the Trace's signal without alerting the Ministry of Magic. Of course, he hadn't just ripped it out—that would have tripped alarms at the Ministry immediately. Instead, he used a specialized structural modification to seal the Trace's information away. Whenever he left Hogwarts grounds, it would open up; whenever he was at Hogwarts, it would close. That way, nobody would ever suspect a thing.
Granted, any other eleven-year-old wizard could never have pulled this off to such a degree. But the Gold-tier affix was simply too powerful, and the wand in his hand cooperated wonderfully, refusing to throw any tantrums.
His success sneaking into Knockturn Alley as Tom was also thanks in huge part to his Potion Genius (Gold) affix. Strictly speaking, he shouldn't have been able to find the exact recipe and ingredients for Polyjuice Potion on his own. But leaning on his memory of the original books, combined with his accumulated potion knowledge and a few completely legal herbs bought from an apothecary, Devereux had managed to whip up a streamlined version of the Polyjuice Potion.
Though its duration was short and it wasn't a hundred percent accurate—for instance, the "Tom" he turned out to be was a good ten centimeters shorter than his actual self, his eye color hadn't changed, and the brewing time had been cut down—the crowd in Knockturn Alley hadn't noticed a single flaw. The experiment had been an overwhelming success with no side effects manifesting so far.
"All right, time to upgrade this affix!"
With an excited grin, Devereux used the Affix Upgrade Card directly. He chose Potion Genius. After all, since he was going to be Snape's potion apprentice, boosting his capabilities in this field would serve him well whether he followed Snape's lead or struck out on his own later.
【Ding!】
【Affix Upgrade Card used successfully!】
Devereux instantly felt a strange, wonderful sensation wash over his entire body. It felt very similar to when he had first acquired the Potion Genius affix, but this time it was intensely stronger!
Suddenly, he felt his body undergo another dramatic shift, as if the Polyjuice Potion was acting up again. Devereux turned his head to look at himself in the mirror.
He could clearly see that he had grown taller!
"Huh? Could it be that it optimized the potion's effects to the absolute maximum?"
Devereux pulled up his updated affix description to check.
【Potion Entity (Red): You possess the ultimate talent to brew any potion. A single glance at any potion reveals its exact composition and crafting technique. Any potion consumed by you will have its effects doubled.】