After returning from London, Altair no longer studied with his older cousins, nor did he continue his riding, shooting, and combat training. Instead, he devoted himself entirely to researching magic.
He had a hidden underground laboratory built beneath the manor. No one else was allowed near it in ordinary times, and only Michael and Jimmy were occasionally permitted to come in and take a look.
Among the notes Saruman had left behind was a kind of orc potion that could turn animals into beast-men. Originally, Altair did not have the materials needed to brew it.
But then again, he had the One Ring.
On the third day after returning to Birmingham, Altair went to London again. Wearing the One Ring, he followed a wizard into Diagon Alley.
From there, he slipped into Knockturn Alley and thoroughly looted every dark wizard shop he could find, obtaining a huge quantity of materials used for dark magic experiments, along with many precious potion ingredients.
Altair stuffed everything into his System space. Even Dumbledore would not be able to find it there.
Once he returned to Birmingham, Altair immediately began carrying out his experiments.
After several failed attempts, he was finally able to brew the orc potion perfectly. His first test subject was a rat he had caught in the castle cellar.
Under Michael and Jimmy's shocked gazes, the rat, no larger than a palm, was swallowed by a cloud of black mist and transformed into a half-human-tall rat-headed beast-man.
Its eyes glowed with an evil red light, its fangs were razor-sharp, and its claws gleamed coldly. It looked savage and terrifying.
This rat-man resembled some fantasy race from a game. It was very different from the disgusting Orcs of Middle-earth.
And Altair certainly did not remember hearing of any such potion in The Lord of the Rings, so this was most likely something the System had modified. It could not really be treated as one of Middle-earth's original creations.
In any case, the experiment had been a success.
The reason Altair was trying to make the orc potion was because the Uruk-hai needed to summon Saruman had to be created using the souls of beast-men as a material.
Looking at Michael and Jimmy, who both wore tense expressions, Altair raised his wand toward the rat-headed creature.
Although it had been created by Altair himself, when faced with the threat of death, the rat-man still instinctively bared its teeth, even if it did not dare do anything to Altair.
"Soul Drain."
This was one of the Necromancer's signature spells, used to extract the souls of others.
At first, this spell had only been meant for collecting the souls of the dead. But after being modified by some evil necromancer at some point, it had become a terrifying dark spell capable of ripping the soul from the living.
The rat-man let out a pitiful whine, then fell silent.
Its soul followed the path of Altair's wand, condensing into a glowing bead that he collected. As for its filthy corpse, Altair reduced it to ashes with a single burst of flame.
From that day onward, Michael and Jimmy kept well away from Altair's laboratory. At the same time, their fear of wizards deepened by several more degrees.
Besides the orc potion, Altair also tried brewing an animal potion, an iron-skin potion, and an invisibility potion.
The animal potion could turn whoever drank it into the corresponding animal. The iron-skin potion could make the drinker tough as steel, unable to feel pain and immune to some forms of magic. As for the invisibility potion, just as the name suggested, it let the drinker become invisible for half an hour.
None of these potions existed in the Harry Potter world. Any one of them, if taken out into the open, would cause an enormous uproar in the wizarding world.
Altair intended to make very good use of them and see whether they could help with his future plans.
On August 30, the System's two monthly free summons refreshed once again.
Unfortunately, Altair did not enjoy the same luck as last time.
This time, he drew a Cave Troll and a scroll of parchment recording weather data. Neither was of any use, and neither had the slightest connection to the One Ring, so they did not increase its unlock progress at all.
The Cave Troll was a creature similar to the mountain trolls of this world. It carried a revolting stench, had an enormous body, thick skin, and very little intelligence. Altair tossed it into the depths of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts and left it to fend for itself.
After a busy and fulfilling month had passed, Altair finally arrived at King's Cross Station in Jimmy's car.
At 10:40 in the morning, he stepped out onto the platform.
He had brought only a single trunk. Inside were a few changes of clothes, along with the textbooks and school supplies he needed. Everything important had already been stored in the System space.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."
Altair came to the space between Platforms Nine and Ten, but did not immediately go through. Instead, he stood to one side and quietly observed.
At this hour, quite a few young witches and wizards were passing through to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters under the guidance of their parents.
Altair spotted several familiar faces. Seamus Finnigan, the demolition expert. Dean Thomas. And quite a few older students whose faces also looked very familiar.
"Altair!"
Just as Altair was about to enter the platform, Hermione's excited voice came from behind him.
He turned and saw Hermione waving at him, while Mr. and Mrs. Granger stood behind her, smiling as they looked his way.