Wade closed the thick, ancient book. Its dark red cover looked like congealed blood.
It was a book filled with ancient Greek myths, and Wade had found it today to reread.
Icarus, a figure from ancient Greek mythology, was imprisoned with his father Daedalus by the king. To gain freedom, his father made wings from feathers and wax, and the two used them to fly out of the island where they were held captive.
Daedalus had warned his son not to fly too high or too low, or he would encounter danger.
But Icarus, overcome with excitement and pride, forgot his father's warning. He flew higher and higher, eventually getting too close to the sun, which melted the wax. He lost his wings and plunged into the Aegean Sea, where he died.
What did Flamel's final warning mean? Wade wondered.
Was it about not ignoring the lessons of those who came before? Not being too arrogant or reckless? That striving for extremes ultimately leads to destruction? Or was knowledge like the sun, telling him to always maintain reverence?
Or was it to remember Daedalus's lesson? His invention led to the death of his beloved son, which was never his intention.
"Or perhaps all of it," Wade mused. "There's nothing wrong with exploring new things, and nothing wrong with pursuing freedom. The real problem is that Icarus didn't know how high he could truly fly."
He thought of more things... about balance, about restraint, about natural laws and the insurmountable boundaries of falling.
Wade didn't ask Nicolas Flamel about these questions again.
Because after that day, Wade returned home, while Flamel and Perenelle went to visit the places where they had once met and fallen in love.
In their final moments, Wade knew it would be tactless to bother them with such trivial matters.
He hadn't been home for more than a few days when he received several letters from friends, all urging him to come watch the match.
The Wizarding World was closed off and conservative, lacking the countless entertainment activities, large-scale competitions, and diverse holiday celebrations of the Muggle world. The Quidditch World Cup was the only event that captivated the entire world and stirred a frenzy among all wizards, occurring only once every four years.
So, his friends all seemed to think Wade shouldn't miss this grand event.
The Owls sent to deliver the letters seemed to be tasked with conveying their owners' urgency, often pecking at the windowpane with a "thump-thump-thump" from the windowsill.
After many instances, even Fiona couldn't help but persuade him, "Go, Wade. They say it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You'll definitely regret it if you miss it."
Wade: "..."
He honestly wasn't interested in any World Cup and couldn't really appreciate the charm of Quidditch. He had originally planned to just go for the final two days.
After all, what they called Quidditch was essentially a bunch of players flying at speeds of one hundred and eighty miles per hour high in the air, chasing a few balls that were barely visible from the stands.
The largest Quaffle, for instance, was less than half the size of a football, and the smallest Golden Snitch was about the size of a walnut. Even with magical binoculars, it was hard to pinpoint their locations.
The high-speed flying athletes were no different; their figures were harder to catch than summer mosquitoes. The rapidly changing dynamics of the game, with players moving back and forth, could only be clearly seen by someone as exceptionally gifted as Lee Jordan, using only their naked eye.
Therefore, except for his first year at school, when Wade often went to watch matches out of curiosity, he rarely attended games afterward, even those involving Ravenclaw.
However, this time, urged by everyone, Wade finally reluctantly put down his book and set off for the match.
Mr. and Mrs. Gray naturally couldn't go to a place where only wizards gathered. Wade also didn't know the location of the Quidditch pitch and couldn't Apparate there, so Lupin ended up picking him up.
Wade then took the opportunity to hand him the improved Daydream Quill, which now included an Anti-Addiction System.
"Marchioni must be thrilled," Lupin said with a smile. "He's always been wondering when you'd have a new invention, but he didn't want to push you."
"Aren't the recent revenue reports good?" Wade asked, puzzled. "The data seems very stable to me. In fact, sales of the Streaming Mirror have increased quite a bit because of the World Cup."
Lupin said, "In Marchioni's view, any money he could have earned but didn't is a huge loss—because there were new products launched during previous holidays, and if there isn't one this time, he feels like he's losing out."
Wade chuckled, "He must bother you a lot, right?"
"He does, but I can handle it," Lupin said. "Mainly because the previous products are already well-established, Marchioni feels he's too idle. When he's idle, he wants something to do."
"Then the Daydream Quill is perfect for him," Wade joked. "When he's bored, he can experience the joy of raindrops turning into Galleons in his dreams."
Lupin imagined Marchioni's eyes turning into the shape of Galleons and burst out laughing too.
"How do we get to the stadium?" Wade asked. "Should we just Apparate directly?"
Regardless of whether he had time to watch the matches, Sirius had generously bought everyone season tickets, reportedly for a very good box seat.
Lupin had already accompanied the godfather and godson to watch a match, so he knew what the venue looked like and could Apparate to its vicinity.
But Lupin said, "No, Wade. The stadium is very far, and I can't risk taking you there directly—we'll Floo to a nearby village first, and then I'll Apparate you the rest of the way."
"Why don't we use a Portkey?" Wade asked. "I remember the Daily Prophet saying that the Ministry of Magic had set up quite a few Portkeys this time to make it easier for wizards from all over to get to the stadium."
"That's true, but to facilitate the gathering of wizards while ensuring Muggles don't spot them, there are strict rules about where and when Portkeys can be used," Lupin explained.
Wade packed his luggage, and the two of them went to Moody's house next door—the old Auror Moody had no intention of going to the match either; he detested places with large crowds.
When Lupin knocked on Moody's door, asking to borrow his fireplace, Moody warned:
"Be careful! You never know where an attack might come from! Perhaps there's a Death Eater hiding among the spectators behind you, or maybe it's just some fool who stuck his Wand up his arse and accidentally caused an explosion!"
Hearing this, Wade couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm not exaggerating, lad!" Moody said sternly. "You never know how stupid some people can be!"
"Thanks, Alastor," Lupin said calmly. "We'll be careful to avoid those kinds of fools."
Moody grumbled that they would get into trouble sooner or later if they were so careless, then lit the fireplace and pulled out a jar full of Floo Powder.
"Go on, and be safe," Moody said genuinely, sprinkling a handful of Floo Powder into the flames. "Come back alive."
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