As a result, Victor Wick's training center was established in no time.
All he had to do was find a location and hang up a sign, and the organization would be officially operational.
"Another project to sink money into..." Victor sighed inwardly as he set down the stack of paperwork.
Since he wouldn't be recruiting any more students, such a training center was destined to be a pure money-sink.
Had he not amassed a modest fortune in the Muggle world, he wouldn't have been able to afford such a loss-making enterprise.
"Professor, you have no idea how thrilled everyone was after I passed on your instructions!" Fleur said excitedly. "On the surface, it's just a training center, but in secret, it's about preparing us with the skills to enter every walk of life! Planning for the future! Just thinking about such a grand goal is exhilarating!"
"Mhm..." Victor gave a weary response.
"Professor, everyone is hoping you'll give our organization a striking name." Fleur looked at him with eyes full of hope.
"The Knights Templar..." Victor replied listlessly.
"The Knights Templar? What a wonderful name! It sounds like an organization destined for greatness!" Fleur buzzed with excitement for a moment before continuing, "Then... could you give us a hint? Once we've successfully infiltrated every industry, what are we supposed to do?"
"Establish a new order through our own means, save the world, and guide all of humanity onto the right path..."
Victor offhandedly recited a truncated version of the Knights Templar tenets.
These teenagers had been raised under Grindelwald's influence, force-fed the idea that 'might makes right.' To keep them in line, he had to play into their existing mindsets and use this kind of rhetoric to pacify them.
These two hundred plus youths weren't ordinary student wizards; pull any one of them out, and they would have no equal among the regular Hogwarts student body.
Not to mention what they would be capable of once they fully matured...
If they decided to become unruly and start trouble now, Victor wouldn't be the only one with a headache.
As for the future... he would worry about that when it arrived.
At the very least, establishing a pseudo-organization would keep them in check for now, buying him the time and opportunity to use more drastic,
"Professor, you look troubled. If you're facing any difficulties, you can let us take care of them for you," Fleur said earnestly.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. I'll call for you when I truly need you." Victor waved her off. "If you have nothing else, you can go and relay my new orders."
"Um... Professor..." Fleur hesitated.
"Miss Delacour, is there something else?" Victor asked.
"I heard you have an assistant named Andrey Shafiq, a sixth-year. Well... would you be interested in having a fifth-year assistant as well? You know my abilities are certainly superior to Shafiq's!" Fleur looked at him hopefully. "Besides, as your assistant, you could reach me at any time."
Victor shook his head. "You're a fifth-year student, Miss Delacour. You have an important exam to prepare for."
"But you know my status as a transfer student is fake—it's only temporary," Fleur whispered.
Victor's expression turned stern. "Have you forgotten the first rule of infiltration? As a sleeper agent, you must never break character! You are a fifth-year student now; your primary mission is to prepare for your O.W.L. exams. If you're always coming here instead of focusing on your studies, everyone will see through you! Go back and study like a normal student. Don't come looking for me unless it's necessary." "Yes..." Fleur nodded sadly, heading toward the door with a crestfallen expression.
"Wait..." Victor suddenly called out to her.
"Is there a mission?" The disappointment on Fleur's face vanished instantly.
"I do have a task for you." Victor paused for a moment before pulling two notebooks from a drawer.
He drew his wand and tapped the notebooks lightly, sending sequences of runes vanishing into the covers.
"Take one of these. I want you to keep a secret eye on Harry Potter's every move and record it in your notebook. Whatever you write will appear in my copy... Oh, and in the future, if you have reports or minor questions, you can leave me a message in here as well."
Fleur sighed softly, taking one of the notebooks with a hint of disappointment.
"Remember, do not interfere with Harry's actions. Just record his movements," Victor added.
Fleur brightened up and left with the notebook. Regardless, this was the first task the Professor had given her. She couldn't afford to mess it up and bring shame to the Nurmengard Institute of Magic!
In truth, having Fleur spy on Harry was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
He could have monitored Harry's movements simply by hacking into the Hogwarts servers; he didn't actually need Fleur for the job.
However, considering Fleur's pride and considerable power, forcing her to swallow her pride and play a lowly fifth-year might lead her to cause trouble. It was better to give her something to do.
Besides, with Fleur's reports, he could fill in any gaps if he ever missed a beat while monitoring Harry.
Victor looked through the window toward Hagrid's hut in the distance. There, Harry and his friends, wrapped in thick cloaks, were trudging through the light snowfall toward the cabin.
'Next, I need to turn up the heat...'
Inside the Gryffindor common room.
Harry and his friends had just returned from Hagrid's and were now whispering in a corner.
"Even though Hagrid tried to hide it, we found out from him... the thing hidden in the third-floor corridor seems to be the very item Professor Wick took from Gringotts," Harry whispered.
"Gringotts was attacked that same day... maybe someone was trying to steal that treasure."
Ron added quietly, picking up a rock cake Hagrid had given them. He struggled to break off a piece and offered it to his rat, Scabbers.
However, Scabbers immediately turned his head away, seemingly uninterested in the food.
Neville remained silent, sitting off to the side.
Ron continued, "Harry, you're closer to Professor Wick. Why don't you go and ask him what that treasure actually is?"
"That's enough, you guys!" Hermione frowned. "Honestly, what does it matter to you what's hidden in the third-floor corridor? If I were you, I wouldn't go bothering Professor Wick about it. I don't think he'd tell you anything so confidential anyway."
"Are you really not the least bit curious about what's in there? What if... we go take a peek tonight?" Ron suggested nervously.
Harry felt a spark of interest; his innate sense of adventure was instantly piqued.
"...You've already lost so many points lately, and you're thinking about wandering the halls at night? If you get caught, how many more points will Gryffindor lose? You might even be expelled! So, you should be thinking about how to finish your Potions homework, not worrying about these things."
Hermione finished her lecture crossly, grabbed her books, and marched away.
Watching her go, Ron scowled. "Snape is the one picking on us... she makes it sound like we're losing points on purpose."
"Whatever it is... I think Hermione is right about one thing. If I don't finish my Potions essay soon, I think Professor Snape will feed a poison to Trevor next week without a second thought," Neville said miserably, clutching his toad, Trevor.
At those words, the excitement vanished from Harry and Ron's faces, along with their briefly rekindled sense of adventure.
"Snape is awful... we're only in our first year, and he's making us write a three-foot-long essay! Even if I analyzed every single letter in the recipe for Cure for Boils, I couldn't make it that long!" Ron looked despairing.
Neville shook his head with a weak smile. "I was planning on copying—I mean, referencing—Hermione's essay, but I think you guys just chased her off."
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