With the crack of Apparition, Adrian returned to his shop in the Muggle world.
The shop was just as he had left it—the tables spotlessly clean, and the plants on the shelves still thriving just as they had been before he left.
It seemed Remus had taken very good care of the place.
Indeed, choosing Remus as his assistant had been the right decision.
Apart from a few furry little problems, Adrian couldn't find anything to criticize.
Ah, right, he wondered if Remus had eaten the golden apple he had given him earlier.
Adrian scanned the shop's environment, then sat down in the high-backed chair behind the counter.
As he leaned back to rest, Adrian thought again about the woman he had seen in Nicolas's crystal ball.
Who could she be...
Well, no use worrying about it now.
After some time passed and when the moment was right, he would go to the Black Forest in Albania to investigate.
By then, everything would become clear.
Although Adrian had told Harry he would be away for a few days, on the third morning, the shop bell rang crisply.
Adrian was carefully adjusting the angle of a Moon Flower on the shelf, trying to ensure it could catch the moonlight—this rare magical plant would bloom silver-blue flowers under the full moon.
"Teacher!" Harry's excited voice came from behind. "You're back so early?"
"Harry?" Adrian turned around in surprise to see Harry. "Although I came back early, I thought I told you I wouldn't be home these few days."
Harry awkwardly ruffled his now fluffy black hair. "Dudley brought his gang to bully me again. I just couldn't stay there anymore."
"Did you use magic?" Adrian asked.
"Of course not. I even took a punch to the head," Harry quickly shook his head and said, "The professors warned me not to use magic outside of school. If I absolutely had to, I would need to be near an adult wizard..."
"I don't recall telling you that last part," Adrian narrowed his eyes. "Who told you that?"
"Fred and George," Harry unhesitatingly named the Weasley twins. "They can secretly use magic at home without any problem."
Adrian sighed and reminded him, "Even if you can't use magic, don't you still have Guru?"
However, Harry just shook his head and said, "Although I'd love to let Guru bite Dudley's backside, Guru is too dangerous for ordinary people. I don't want to cause any trouble."
Harry was indeed a good child.
Adrian patted his head and said, "Take out your wand, Harry. You can use magic here. Or go to the plantation—the Ministry can't detect magic there."
Because Harry had come to find Adrian early, Adrian advanced the summer training program he had prepared for Harry.
Now in his second year, it was time to learn some real combat spells.
In battle, the most commonly used spells by wizards were the attack spell "Expelliarmus" and the defense spell "Protego."
Basically, every skilled wizard duelist excelled at these two spells.
Ironically, though, many wizards at Hogwarts couldn't cast a decent Shield Charm even by graduation.
This hardly mattered in peacetime, but in an era plagued by dark wizards, the importance of the Shield Charm was self-evident.
On the tenth day of summer vacation.
On the open ground in front of the Whomping Willow in the plantation.
Harry was wrestling with the tendrils of the Devil's Snare.
With an agile side-flip, he dodged a whipping tendril from the Devil's Snare, beads of sweat on his forehead glistening in the sunlight.
"Protego!" Harry shouted, thrusting his wand forward.
A translucent silver barrier appeared before him, and when the Devil's Snare's tendril struck the barrier, it created a rippling effect.
However, the silver barrier conjured by the Shield Charm soon shattered.
Adrian stood to the side, holding a silver timer. "Well done, Harry. This time your Shield Charm lasted two seconds. Your wrist movement is still too stiff."
Harry nodded, catching his breath and adjusting his wand grip.
Just then, a tendril of Devil's Snare suddenly sprang from the ground and grabbed Harry's ankle.
Though Harry noticed it, the tendril had already wrapped around his left ankle, suspending him upside down.
"You never told me it would come from underground!" Harry yelled at Adrian while hanging upside down.
"In real combat, enemies won't tell you their attack routes in advance." Adrian leaned casually against the trunk of the Whomping Willow, idly twirling his wand. "Now, think about how you should escape."
Harry dangled in mid-air, his face turning red from the blood rush.
He struggled to lift his upper body, pointing his wand at the tendril wrapped around his ankle. "Incendio."
A spark shot from the tip of his wand, and the Devil's Snare immediately released Harry's ankle.
Harry frantically adjusted his position in mid-air, eventually landing on the lawn in a less-than-graceful pose.
"Good use of the Fire Charm," Adrian walked over and extended a hand to pull Harry up. "But for that landing posture, I can only give you one point."
Harry brushed the grass off his clothes, breathing heavily.
He had been training the Shield Charm for a long time today.
"Go rest, Harry."
Adrian nodded with satisfaction. Harry was working much harder than he had imagined.
In just a few days, Harry had managed to make his Shield Charm quite presentable.
His talent in this area was indeed outstanding.
Moreover, Adrian had trained not only Harry's spellcasting but also his stamina and reflexes.
This was to give Harry some ability to fight back against Dudley.
At this moment, Remus walked over to Adrian's side.
He had just witnessed the entire training session between Adrian and Harry.
Remus frowned slightly and quietly asked Adrian, "Adrian, don't you think this training is too... too rushed for Harry? He's only twelve."
Adrian glanced at Remus and then said, "It's not early at all. I already learned the Shield Charm and Disarming Charm in my first year."
Remus was taken aback.
What first-year student would know Shield Charms and Disarming Charms?!
However, looking at Adrian's serious expression,
He really didn't seem to be... lying.
This was too extraordinary.
When did he learn these two spells?
In his third year? Or fourth year?
"One more thing," Adrian casually said, "Voldemort is about to return."
Hearing Adrian's words, Remus froze.
"W-who did you say is coming back?" he asked uncertainly.
"Voldemort." Adrian's tone was as calm as if discussing the weather. "That's also why I want Harry to learn these spells early."
After hearing this clearly, Remus's eyes widened in horror. "Wait, where did you get this information?"
Adrian shrugged. "Trust me, helping Harry grow up sooner is the right thing to do."
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