Victor Wick and Snape were hunched over a pile of manuscripts, spreading them out to study them carefully.
The bleeding in Snape's leg had already stopped, though he was loath to waste time seeking treatment from Madam Pomfrey just yet. "To brew a restorative draught with this kind of efficacy, the ingredients required are incredibly expensive. Crucially, several materials that are theoretically the most effective are currently unobtainable regardless of price... For instance, a Qilin horn."
"Then we'll just have to find substitutes," Victor suggested, rubbing his chin in deep thought.
The manuscripts Aziraphale had given him only provided a clear direction; the specific execution would require his own experimentation.
After all, even though Aziraphale and Crowley had pieced this method together using their respective fields of expertise, they had never actually put it into practice themselves.
It was as if someone had pointed Victor toward a destination; to actually get there, he would have to carve out his own path.
"The materials aren't actually the biggest issue; my funds are quite sufficient. However, this Power of Faith..." Victor looked at the bottle in his hand, his brow furrowing slightly.
Snape's gaze also fell upon the glowing white cluster of faith. "I will handle the research on the potion side. But as for this Power of Faith, that's entirely up to you."
"Don't worry, I actually have a few ideas already." Victor tucked the bottle away.
"Keep these few pages of the manuscript; you can take the rest with you." Snape pulled out the pages describing the potion brewing from the stack and handed the remainder back to Victor.
"Alright... that's enough for today. I'll come find you when I have news. And that leg of yours... don't delay. Go to Madam Pomfrey and get some medicine," Victor said.
Snape glanced at his injured leg, his brow knitting tightly.
He had plenty of potions in his own stores, yet none of them had been able to completely close the wound. He doubted going to Madam Pomfrey would be of much use.
He wondered if that brat Sirius had coated his teeth in some kind of venom before the attack. Otherwise, why would a simple bite wound be as difficult to heal as one inflicted by a dangerous magical beast?
Regardless, he shook the thought away. The most important task now was to finalize the formula!
Snape reached into a drawer and pulled out a large vial, placing it in front of Victor. "This is all the Felix Felicis I can provide right now. Take it."
Victor didn't stand on ceremony and pocketed the liquid luck. The effect of the potion was indeed far superior to the Felix Felicis Charm.
Moreover, the fact that Snape had surrendered such precious Felix Felicis without a moment's hesitation proved just how determined he was.
Snape didn't look at Victor again; his eyes were fixed back on the papers in his hands, burning with a strange, brilliant intensity...
*'Wait for me...'*
Victor sat in his chair, staring at the cluster of Power of Faith on his desk for a long time.
This energy gave him an incredibly familiar feeling... he felt as though he had seen it, or perhaps felt it, somewhere before.
Suddenly, his left hand brushed against the ring on his right hand...
The very ring Grindelwald had given him.
Victor let out a sharp breath as it suddenly clicked.
When he had first met Grindelwald, he had only noticed that the man possessed a very unique aura.
He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but thinking back now... the aura radiating from Grindelwald felt faintly similar to the Power of Faith!
"Faith... religious followers believe in God, creating the Power of Faith. Back then, the Acolytes believed in Grindelwald's ideology, worshipping him as if he were a god. Thinking about it that way, the logic is basically the same."
Victor opened the bottle, intending to extract a tiny strand of the Power of Faith to analyze it with his Code Vision.
However, the moment he pulled a strand out, he found that it dissipated at a speed far exceeding his expectations!
"So, without a medium, faith simply vanishes?"
Victor replaced the cap and examined the bottle closely. Clearly, Aziraphale had used some unique method to enchant it, turning it into a temporary vessel.
But this vessel only slowed the rate of dissipation; the Power of Faith inside was still constantly leaking out into the surroundings.
"A medium... a medium..." Victor rubbed his chin. Suddenly, prompted by the lingering luck of the Felix Felicis, he summoned his Patronus!
"Hey... a Patronus is a 'Guardian God' after all. Maybe it'll work?" Victor opened the bottle again, preparing to extract another strand.
But as soon as he opened the vial this time, the Power of Faith did not remain stable as before. Instead, it drifted out and plunged directly into the mechanical hummingbird in front of him!
Victor gasped.
He hurriedly inspected his Patronus and found that the Power of Faith had merged into it like salt dissolving in water!
Furthermore, once the faith had integrated with the Patronus, all signs of dissipation vanished!
"It actually worked!" Victor marveled, looking closely at the mechanical hummingbird.
He noticed that its mechanical appearance had blurred slightly, becoming more fluid and lifelike than before.
"Excellent. I've finally found a way to contain the Power of Faith!" Victor was elated.
Otherwise, according to Aziraphale's suggestion, he would have had to temporarily store the faith on church crosses.
And those churches would have had to be the kind with heavy foot traffic.
The biggest drawback was that even then, it wouldn't stop the dissipation; the collection speed would simply have to outpace the leakage.
If something happened to the church or the crowd thinned out, he would have had to find a new location.
Now, merging the Power of Faith into his Patronus was much more convenient.
He only needed to send his Patronus out to hide behind a church cross and intercept the faith at the source!
Furthermore... it seemed that some wondrous change occurred when the Power of Faith collided with the Patronus Charm.
Victor pulled out his keyboard and began analyzing his Patronus. He had to know whether this Power of Faith was a pure buff or if it carried negative side effects...
As Halloween approached, Harry finally saw his long-awaited godfather at Hogwarts.
That day, Sirius Black had changed into a set of brand-new, respectable clothes and strode boldly into the Great Hall.
This time, he wasn't sneaking in; he had obtained Dumbledore's permission to enter openly.
Accompanying him was a middle-aged man with a somewhat pale complexion.
Harry stood up, looking at the two men in front of him with a hint of nervousness.
He had seen them before in the photo album Victor had given him.
"H-hello," Harry stammered out, finally managing a greeting after a long pause.
Sirius laughed and patted Remus Lupin on the shoulder. "James was never this shy."
He sighed softly, stepping up to Harry and looking down at him. "It's been a long time... Harry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have vanished from your life."
In that instant, Harry felt a sting in his nose, and his eyes began to prickle with heat.
"I'm Remus Lupin," Lupin added, stepping forward with a warm, gentle smile. "I was also a close friend of your parents. I almost ended up as your godfather, but Sirius beat me to it."
"I've seen you in the photos. Now, I finally get to meet you... It's wonderful..."
At the staff table, Professor McGonagall watched them with deep emotion, occasionally dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.
A nostalgic smile played on Dumbledore's lips, his gaze softening. No one knew what he was truly thinking.
He glanced at the seats nearby. He knew exactly who was most responsible for this moment, but... that seat was empty.
Recently, the habits of Victor Wick and Snape had become surprisingly synchronized. Aside from their classes, both were living like recluses, and no one knew what they were busy with.
As for Snape... everyone could vaguely sense a change in him. Although he didn't appear in public often and his expression remained grim, one could feel a powerful, unprecedented aura radiating from him.
The students in his Potions classes were even more shocked, claiming Snape had turned over a new leaf. He no longer assigned mountains of homework, and sometimes, he even let them out early before rushing out of the classroom ahead of everyone else.
A faint sense of unease rose in Dumbledore's heart, as neither Victor nor Snape had come to report to him for quite some time.
Arriving shortly after Sirius and Lupin was the Weasley family.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with their children, found Victor in his office.
Of course, it wasn't Victor who opened the door for them, but a large yellow dog...
Standing at the threshold, their jaws nearly dropped at the sight of the chaotic environment inside.
If a house-elf were to see this place, they would surely bang their head against a wall in shame.
It took them a while to find Victor, who was buried under a pile of manuscripts in front of a small blackboard in the corner.
He was squatting there, staring blankly at a complex sequence of rune strings written on the board.
This made the Weasleys feel a bit awkward and uneasy, fearing their visit might have interrupted his work.
After all, no one expected a large yellow dog to be the one answering the door.
Woof!
Lucky pounced on Victor, wagging his tail and licking him frantically.
"Oh... Lucky! Stop! Your breath is terrible!" Victor pushed Lucky away, only then noticing the Weasley family standing at the door.
"Huh? Oh! Arthur, Molly! What are you doing here? Please, come in!"
Then, Victor realized with some embarrassment that his office was a total disaster, with barely enough floor space to step on.
"Sorry, the room's a bit of a mess..."
He raised a hand and swiped the air. A sequence of runes flashed briefly.
Immediately, the scattered manuscripts on the floor flew up, automatically stacking themselves neatly on the desk.
"We should be the ones apologizing for disturbing you," Arthur said bashfully.
"Sit, sit! It's been a while..." Victor conjured several chairs and placed them in front of him.
Percy stood next to his parents, his clothes impeccably neat, looking every bit like a Ministry official.
Ron stood beside Percy, holding the hand of a small red-haired girl.
Unlike their restrained parents, the Weasley twins were peering curiously around Victor's office.
It was their first time here. In fact, they had always wanted to learn that magic that allowed one to dive into mirrors, but they never had the opportunity.
"We came to express our gratitude, Victor," Arthur said, taking off his hat with a face full of appreciation.
"There's no need for that, Arthur. Wasn't it just the right thing to do?" Victor waved it off.
"You saved our whole family, Victor. Of course we had to come thank you in person! Oh... Bill and Charlie wanted to come too, but they had work and couldn't make it," Molly said regretfully.
"Bill graduated a while ago; where is he working now? And Charlie? What did he do after graduation?" Victor asked, engaging in casual small talk.
"Bill went to Gringotts as a Curse-breaker, and Charlie went to study dragons. Both jobs are a bit dangerous, but... they're doing what they love, so we don't say much," Molly said, her tone carrying a mother's typical worry.
A Curse-breaker? The nature of that profession flashed through Victor's mind, and a sudden sense of nostalgia washed over him.
In truth, he had once worked as a Curse-breaker himself under a hidden identity. It was a good job.
At the very least, he didn't have to be so secretive when delving into ruins and ancient tombs.
Eventually, he snatched too many treasures under their noses, the goblins got suspicious, and he had to make a run for it.
Thinking about it, it had been a long time since he'd wandered through those kinds of places. Even Borgin and Burkes had been asking him for new stock lately.