Hogwarts: My Yorozuya has no taboos!

Chapter 10 Naomi no Namae

The voices were very close, and the door to the private room was opened, as if someone had entered.

But if an outsider were to stand outside this private room and peek in, he would only see Ares Delfino sitting inside.

"A very beautiful illusion spell, sir—"

But within the unique magical vision created by Ares' bright eyes, someone did indeed intrude into his private room.

He was a tall, distinguished-looking, blond middle-aged man with clear blue eyes.

The middle-aged man was dressed in a white monk's robe made of very fine fabric, but with an oddly styled design, and a gold pocket watch hung on his chest. Ares's gaze 'inadvertently' brushed over the dragon-skin suitcase the middle-aged man was carrying; even through the lid, he could feel its heavy weight.

Then, Ares's penetrating gaze fixed on the man's face again. His brows furrowed slightly, and he pretended to be confused, but his pupils involuntarily contracted!

"But who are you, sir?"

Ares asked softly.

"Furthermore, what kind of person do you want from me?"

boom!

"You're quite the actor, Delfino."

The middle-aged man's face was etched with indifference. He tossed his leather suitcase onto the floor and sat down opposite Ares, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.

The middle-aged man first glanced at the potion in Ares's hand, then questioned him in a voice laced with coldness and urgency.

"Have you really forgotten me, Delfino? ​​We made a deal, didn't we?"

"I have transactional relationships with many people, sir—"

Ares maintained a composed smile, but his extremely constricted pupils still couldn't relax.

Who are you?

"Still pretending, Delfino!"

The middle-aged man's voice was filled with anger, but his square face remained frozen, unable to display any other expression.

"On the 20th of last month, I intercepted you in the underground Knockdown Alley and gave you a deposit of eight thousand Galleons, asking you to go to Azkaban to help me get Bellatrix Lestrange out of prison. Remember? I promised you that I would give you another seven thousand Galleons after it was done."

Ares slightly closed his eyelids, raised his hand, and slowly and steadily placed the potion on the table, his gaze never leaving the middle-aged man's cold face.

"On the 20th of last month in Knockdown Alley, I did indeed reach a secret agreement with a wizard—"

Ares spoke softly, a warm smile playing on his lips.

"But that person is clearly not you."

Quirrell, of course, never showed his face to Ares. His explanations to Bellatrix Lestrange were nothing more than attempts to deceive her into cooperating with the operation and not causing too much trouble.

"I was wearing a black cloak...and you were too, weren't you?"

The middle-aged man said in an impatient tone,

"But I knew your identity beforehand. I followed you down there—well, you haven't seen my face... I overlooked that, it's normal that you don't recognize me."

"Oh, a black cloak?"

Ares said in a lighthearted tone,

"It's not me pretending, sir, but you—you should understand that if such a sophisticated illusion spell can't block my view, then an ordinary cloak certainly won't work either."

The man fell silent for a moment, as if he hadn't expected to be seen through.

"Hmm...you're very perceptive, Delfino. I didn't expect you to see through it—but that's a good thing, because if this project we're working on were exposed, we'd all be finished."

The middle-aged wizard sniffed slightly and looked at Ares, saying...

"Yes, actually I drank a compound decoction before I came here."

"Oh, really?"

Ares was amused as if he had heard a joke.

"I thought a wizard with such high magical power as you would surely understand that polysaccharide potions are not a panacea."

Waaah—

The steam locomotive's whistle emitted a deep, high-pitched sound that could shatter the clouds, overpowering the monotonous clanging noise of the wheels grinding against the rails.

The train entered the tunnel again. In the cold darkness, the train carriage was still filled with the laughter of the young wizards. But what they didn't know was that whether they could safely reach their destination was now a matter of great uncertainty.

Unbeknownst to them, on the train, their future Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was working to improve their chances of survival.

As dawn broke, it illuminated two unremarkable faces in the last compartment of the train.

Suddenly, the blond middle-aged wizard did something strange.

Under Ares's focused gaze, he suddenly raised his hands, covered his face, and rubbed it vigorously, then—

"Oh, haha, you're much more troublesome than I thought, Ares."

Suddenly, the coldness on the middle-aged wizard's face melted away, replaced by a kind and friendly smile.

The cold, confrontational demeanor he had deliberately adopted towards Ares vanished, replaced by a relaxed posture as he leaned against the car window, speaking in a friendly tone as if he were Ares's old friend.

"Honestly, I've known for a long time that my acting skills aren't great, but I thought these lies I made up would at least fool you for a little while. Now it seems you saw right through me?"

"Actually, your acting skills are superb—"

Ares complimented.

"I almost fell for your trick."

"You're really good at comforting people, Ares—"

The middle-aged wizard shook his head and let out a hoarse laugh.

The atmosphere inside the private room seemed to have become more pleasant, but in reality, beneath this pleasant surface remained cold and tense.

"May I see your potion, Ares?"

The middle-aged wizard made no attempt to conceal his curiosity; his clear blue eyes fixed on the half-full cup of red potion in front of Ares.

"nature-"

Ares said, with a flourish of his hand. He watched as the middle-aged wizard picked up his potion, held it to his nose, and sniffed it, his nostrils flaring.

"Would you like to try some? I have some more here."

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary—"

The middle-aged wizard put down the potion and looked at Ares with a beaming smile.

"I dare not say that I can digest such a potent poison like you."

Just by smelling it, I could tell the potion's effects.

Ares felt a slight unease, but his smile remained unchanged.

"Well...excuse my intrusion, sir, I think we've had a very pleasant conversation, but one question remains—"

Ares gave a polite bow.

"You see, you know who I am, you know my name is Ares Delfino, but until now, I still don't know how to address you?"

"This is indeed a very serious problem, Ares—"

The middle-aged wizard nodded with a light smile and an air of seriousness.

Ares thought he would come up with another excuse, but the result was—

"La Ri Gaspar".

The middle-aged wizard's eyes were filled with a smile.

"Don't be so formal with me, Ares, just call me Larri."

La Ri Gaspar...

Ares's eyes flickered, Dumbledore's words echoing in his ears:

The fairies concealed... a merchant... and Quirrell... a valiant fight?

Quirrell...does he even deserve it?

"So—"

Ares took a deep breath, his eyes fixed intently on the man opposite him who identified himself as La Ri Gaspar.

"Where is the wizard who actually made the commission with me?"

"You mean Quirinas Quiro?"

Larri Gaspar rubbed his aching shoulders and back, leaned back in his car seat, and a regretful smile appeared on his face.

"He's dead."