"The Restricted Section," Adrian explained briefly.
Irene nodded without asking more, thinking about how to help him.
She'd originally thought Adrian wanted to learn the Patronus Charm because he didn't know how to focus his emotions properly and couldn't release the spell. But clearly, that wasn't the case.
Adrian's grasp of the charm wasn't weak at all. What he was missing was just the transformation into a corporeal Patronus.
And that was the trickiest part of learning the spell. Some people practiced for several months without successfully forming their guardian.
But there were ways to learn faster, mainly by creating enough external pressure and stimulation.
"All right, I'll find something for you to practice the Patronus Charm on, but it'll take two or three days," Irene said with a pained expression, because it meant she'd have to spend another fortune.
Something to practice the Patronus on?
A Dementor?
Adrian guessed, but quickly dismissed the idea. Getting a Dementor wasn't that easy.
Most of those creatures served as guards in Azkaban, and the rest appeared in groups around places of death and disease. They were difficult to deal with, let alone catch one alive.
The most likely option was a Boggart, which could transform into whatever people feared most.
Adrian's expression turned a bit strange.
Did Irene think the thing he feared most was a Dementor, so she'd rushed to help him learn the charm?
He opened his mouth to ask, but Irene was being secretive and probably wouldn't tell him directly anyway.
Whatever. A Boggart is a Boggart.
Adrian figured that after practicing Occlumency, he might be able to forge a memory and make the Boggart look like a Dementor. That should be somewhat useful, right?
While waiting, Adrian didn't stay idle. With his wand back in hand, he could cast spells freely, so he resumed his daily magical practice routine.
In his free time, he pestered Irene to teach him how to make magical items.
During their previous battle, Adrian had been fascinated by the explosive combat power Irene displayed with magical items. If he could make dozens of magical items to carry around, wouldn't he be invincible?
However, Irene mercilessly interrupted his fantasies.
If he really did that, after one battle the family would go bankrupt.
"But you used magical items during practice," Adrian said weakly. He'd seen Irene secretly repairing the damaged badge in her workshop after the battle ended.
He'd noticed her pained look before and figured it would cost a lot of Galleons to repair.
Adrian opened his mouth to continue complaining, but under Irene's increasingly dangerous gaze, he wisely chose to shut up.
Irene rummaged through the workshop for a while and finally pulled out several thick books, which she threw at him.
Compared to the casual joking around between him and the Weasley twins at school, Irene's teaching method was much more formal. She expected him to actually read these thick books before moving forward.
"Detailed Explanation of Basic Magical Materials", "On the Conductivity of Metal Magic", "Magical Pattern Arrangement", "Tips You Don't Know"...
"I still have to read books," Adrian muttered to himself while looking at the pile on the table.
But he didn't feel any real resistance. When he'd been at Hogwarts, he'd liked spending time in the library anyway.
After throwing the books at Adrian, Irene stayed in the basement repairing the magical items she'd consumed earlier, except for occasional trips out.
And Adrian was successfully promoted to acting manager of this dark magic shop, or really, the front desk salesperson. When he encountered something he couldn't handle, he'd get Irene to deal with it.
He earned two Galleons per week as salary, which counted as his pocket money.
So in addition to practicing magic all day, Adrian just sat at the counter, flipping through books and taking care of the dark magic shop.
For several days, Adrian finished reading two books but didn't see any visitors come through.
He wasn't surprised. Selling dark magical goods was like that, sometimes it was normal not to see customers for ten days or two weeks. Three to five deals in a month earned enough Galleons for them to get by.
Of course, just barely get by. If business was really bad, they'd have to live frugally for a while.
Jingle~~
The doorbell hanging on the door moved without any wind, and Adrian put down his book. This was a little charm Irene had set at the entrance, which meant someone was coming in.
"Welcome to the magic shop. Is there anything you need?" Adrian asked politely.
"Little Adrian? I'm not here to buy things."
Outside the door, an unfamiliar middle-aged wizard walked in, looking to be in his early forties. His sparse brown hair was neatly combed back, and he wore an oversized black-gray wizard robe with sleeves of different lengths. He seemed to have temporarily sprayed some kind of scent-enhancing potion on himself, but Adrian could still smell the alcohol hidden beneath the fragrance.
At the sight of him, memories surfaced in Adrian's mind, and he finally understood who this middle-aged wizard was.
Dougt.
Former Deputy Director of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Also his mother's most important friend in Knockturn Alley... and ally.
No one knew his last name. In Adrian's memories, everyone just called him Dougt.
But Adrian was confused about how such a person had ended up living in Knockturn Alley.
"Where's your mother? Why are you here today?" Dougt took a quick look around after entering. When he didn't see anyone else, he looked at Adrian, his eyes full of affection. He even reached out with his right hand to ruffle the top of Adrian's head.
Adrian dodged instinctively, then froze after doing so. Why was he so practiced at that?
Looking through his memories, Adrian discovered he'd done this many times before, with about a fifty-fifty success rate.
Dougt wasn't embarrassed when his attempt failed. He calmly withdrew his hand, and Adrian spoke up.
"My mother's in the basement. She should be repairing magical items. Is there something you need?"
"I just came to see her," Dougt mumbled, then walked further inside.
Adrian wasn't sure whether to believe him. Then, remembering his earlier doubts, he asked aloud.
"By the way, do you know if there's any conflict between my mother and Professor Dumbledore?"
Hearing Adrian mention Dumbledore, Dougt's expression soured. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"That's because ten years ago..."