"Is it some form of your divine magic?" Victor Wick asked.
Because Aziraphale and Crowley had made no attempt to conceal their origins, Victor remained the only wizard who knew their true identities.
"No, no... after we arrived in this new world and discovered the existence of wizards, I went searching for magical texts," Aziraphale said with a pleasant smile. "So, being in this world isn't a bad thing at all. At the very least, this new world has provided me with many books I've never seen or had the chance to collect before."
Without further delay, Aziraphale bustled off into the towering rows of his library and began rummaging through the stacks.
Before long, he emerged from a pile of newly acquired magical texts holding a volume with an exceptionally weathered cover.
Victor didn't find this particularly strange; Aziraphale had always been fond of collecting antique books, so it stood to reason that anything he produced would look centuries old.
He simply wondered where the angel had managed to obtain such books in such a short amount of time.
In the wizarding world, most knowledge was strictly monopolized.
The founding of Hogwarts had arguably broken that monopoly on academic knowledge.
Yet, even within Hogwarts, there existed the Restricted Section...
Unless a student was exceptionally talented or particularly adept at winning the favor of a professor, they had little hope of borrowing books from there, and even then, they remained under strict supervision.
Of course, the establishment of a Restricted Section was a necessity. Many dark spells were entirely unsuitable for young wizards to learn, and those books were generally laden with curses.
For young wizards who lacked self-protection and self-restraint, rashly leafing through such volumes was a dangerous endeavor—both for themselves and for everyone around them.
"This book, *Secrets of Darkest Arts*... while its contents are quite vile and deeply unsettling, it does contain some very practical minor spells," Aziraphale said, his expression appearing somewhat unnatural.
He was a righteous and virtuous angel, yet he had been unable to suppress his curiosity and had read the book. Afterward, he had spent a considerable amount of time in penance.
When Victor heard the title, his gaze narrowed instantly.
He had heard the name of this book from the mouth of the Dark Lord himself!
Although Voldemort had only mentioned it in passing, Victor felt that any book capable of earning the Dark Lord's praise must have extraordinary merits. He had made sure to commit the title to memory.
Hearing the name again now, Victor's spirit was immediately roused.
"Have you... used any of the magic inside?" Victor couldn't help but ask.
"Used... no! Of course not! I was simply... curious and happened to look through it, so I memorized a few of the more normal minor spells," Aziraphale defended himself hastily. "Crowley, however, took a great liking to the more wicked ones."
Victor's eyes drifted back to the book. It appeared to be a handwritten manuscript.
"You seem to have heard of this book?" Aziraphale noticed the change in Victor's expression. "This is merely a transcript. No one knows where the original is located."
Victor replied, "I have indeed heard of it. Over a decade ago, a Dark Lord rose in the wizarding world. Before he vanished, he once mentioned this book and spoke of it with great admiration."
"Do you know where the original is? Oh... not that I want to collect it, I merely wanted to see what the original looked like," Aziraphale added quickly.
"I don't know," Victor said, shaking his head. "But where did you get this copy from?"
"Crowley gave it to me. I have no idea where he found it. I really shouldn't let him bring these wicked books back anymore, even if a manuscript of this age has significant collector value... Ah! What am I saying... Lord, forgive me..." Aziraphale said, sounding flustered.
For a moment, Victor thought he looked a bit like a house-elf who had just finished speaking ill of its master.
"Your Lord can't hear your penance right now; this is a new world! There is no Heaven here, and there is no Hell!" Crowley's familiar voice rang out from the doorway.
Crowley strode in, looking as unruly and indolent as ever.
"It seems you quite like my gift after all, don't you? The contents of that manuscript are incredibly interesting!" Crowley grinned widely when he saw Aziraphale holding *Secrets of Darkest Arts*.
"No... I was just about to tell you that you should stop bringing such evil books back!" Aziraphale countered immediately.
"Why? Isn't it fun? It took me a long time to pick that out from that dark wizard's library," Crowley said, sounding rather dissatisfied.
"Never mind that. Let's look at the ring Mr. Wick brought instead," Aziraphale said, not wanting to continue the argument. He flipped the manuscript open and quickly turned to the page he had mentioned, seemingly afraid of catching a glimpse of the wicked illustrations on the other pages.
Crowley grinned. "I know this spell! Its purpose is to peer and reveal... The author placed it here to teach people how to crack magical traps in ancient tombs and steal the treasures within. Are you planning to use it to explore the secrets inside this ring?"
Victor sighed inwardly. As expected of a book dedicated to the Dark Arts, not a single spell within was intended for an upright purpose. It was no wonder a demon like Crowley liked it so much.
"Yes. This was given to me by a powerful dark wizard. For certain specific reasons, I cannot dismantle it, so I must use this method to investigate the magic within," Victor answered.
"Ha, let me do it! I've been wanting to try out all the spells in there!" Crowley grabbed the ring, looking excited. "You wouldn't believe it, but we've recently discovered that our bodies have undergone a certain change. Our power seems to have been assimilated by this world... which is to say, the two of us have effectively become wizards now!"
Victor's eyebrows rose slightly. *Assimilation? That means their original power systems have been directly transformed into the power of this world—into magic?*
"Boom!" A plume of magical fire manifested in Crowley's hand. With a flash of light, the fire vanished, as if it had simply swept across the ring.
"Tsk... it's just a tracking spell. Nothing special." Crowley tossed the ring back, looking disappointed. "I thought it would be some sort of vicious curse!"
"A tracking spell? I see." Victor nodded.
*The ring contains a tracking spell, and I am the one who activates it... Meaning, I provide a coordinate, and the members of Grindelwald's team will automatically find their way to me?*
Victor pondered for a moment. He initially considered putting the ring away, but after a few seconds of thought, he slid it onto the index finger of his right hand.
All things considered, it was best to keep the ring on his person.
Whatever comes my way, I'll handle it.
Since Grindelwald had given him the ring and Dumbledore hadn't objected, he might as well wear it. He wanted to see exactly what Grindelwald was up to.
"May I take a look at this book?" Victor pointed to the copy of *Secrets of Darkest Arts*.
"Er... of course you can, but... I would still advise against it. This book is truly wicked! I had originally sealed it away. If it weren't for the need to use it to identify your ring, I wouldn't have brought it out again," Aziraphale said.
"It's fine. I've seen many Dark Arts; the things in this book won't be enough to make me uncomfortable," Victor said calmly.
He had witnessed the Dark Arts with his own eyes, performed by Voldemort himself in front of the Death Eaters. He certainly had a high enough tolerance for such things.
His insistence on reading the book was because Voldemort had read it. Perhaps he could find some useful information within its pages.
At the very least, if Voldemort ever truly returned and used a dark spell from this book against him, he wouldn't be caught off guard.