Hermione took another look at the things Loren had laid out on the table and hurried him to put them all away. Those were weapons Loren had built early on, modeled after designs pulled from his memories. They looked ordinary, but their power was terrifying—"for treating insufficient-firepower anxiety," as Loren put it.
The Killing Curse might boast "one hit, one kill," but it can be blocked by living things and it has limited range; in front of the weapons Loren had produced, it was a little brother. Among them was a weapon that, in both raw power and range, completely surpassed Avada Kedavra. After all, he'd made them to protect himself back when he hadn't formally studied magic and could only imagine the wizarding world as being absurdly dangerous.
Seeing that Hermione had understood, Loren finally stowed his treasures. No man dislikes guns, and he kept these in his spatial storage at all times—but in this world, there was basically no chance to use them. Thankfully, the system had said he would travel to other worlds in the future; Loren was already planning to take these along and go hunting elsewhere.
Once the toys were put away, he pulled out a stack of materials for Hermione—mostly his early study notes, largely on the scientific side, with a small portion on the junction of science and magic. Hermione happily hugged the bundle and dove in, and Loren, not wanting to disturb her, turned to his own work.
There was a lot on his plate, but by urgency the top priority was improving the Auto-Training Suit. That way Hermione would have a much easier time mastering her strength—and wouldn't turn the house into a disaster zone again like earlier.
Just as Loren was about to head down to the underground alchemy workshop, he remembered something else. He wrote a letter and handed it to Backup Food to deliver to Neville. In it, he explained that he and Hermione planned to visit Longbottom Manor on the third day after Christmas and would bring something to solve Neville's physical issues; Neville should avoid taking off the Auto-Training Suit prematurely.
After watching Backup Food wing away with the letter, Loren traded a quick kiss with Hermione and dove into the workshop to begin upgrading the suit.
The suit was already a mature platform; bolting on a new function didn't take long. By the time Hermione came to call him for lunch, the first upgraded suit was ready. Loren immediately had Hermione put it on and activated "assisted fine motor control." In this mode, the suit helped the wearer control their strength more easily. The effect showed at once—after only crushing a few floorboards, she could move around normally. Of course, that was with the suit's assistance; truly mastering her strength would still take time.
Lunch with the Grangers stirred a new question in Loren's mind. The house really needed a house-elf. That morning, when he was in the lab, he had absentmindedly called for Dobby to bring snacks—only to remember Dobby wasn't theirs to summon. So, instead of spending the whole afternoon in the lab, Loren planned a solo run to Knockturn Alley to see if he could pick up a couple of house-elves on the black market, and then swing by Gringotts to resolve a few matters.
After his nap, he prepped for the trip. First issue: his wand. He absolutely could not take his own wand. The Ministry's Trace was on it; they could monitor spellwork near that wand. In the original story, Harry had been burned badly because of it—Loren had no intention of repeating that mistake.
Once the wand problem was handled, he told Hermione he'd be out for a while, then slipped away to a secluded spot to change his appearance. In an empty alley, he cast detection charms several times to confirm no one was around, then downed a vial of potion and took on the face of a stranger he'd seen on the street before. He donned a hooded robe from his storage and set off.
He didn't plan to enter Knockturn Alley the normal way. He would brute-force his way onto the Floo Network. As far as he knew, the only connected fireplace in the Alley was the one at Borgin and Burkes. If he wanted to pick up house-elves, it wasn't wise to plunge into the Alley and start asking around. Mr. Borgin was the Alley's most famous dealer; he'd certainly have channels. Besides, the other half of the Vanishing Cabinet was still in his shop—perfect to buy outright.
Plan set, Loren moved. First he picked a "lucky host." From past strolls around London, he quickly found the home of a wizarding family who were away on holiday. He avoided the warding and slipped inside. With a point of his right hand, he lit the hearth. He pulled a pinch of Floo Powder from his robe, stepped to the fire, tossed it in, and strode forward.
"Knockturn Alley."
The words were barely out before he vanished into the flames; the hearth quieted soon after, the house returning to normal as though no one had come.
The first ride on the Floo wasn't pleasant. His body seemed to spin at a brutal speed; the wind howled in his ears. He adjusted quickly, though. A parade of hearths flashed by, and with his sharp eyes he could even glimpse the rooms beyond. Just as he was about to take a closer look, the surroundings shifted, a push came from behind, and—
He shot out of a fireplace and planted his feet on stone. Aside from being dusted head-to-toe in ash, he was fine. A cleaning charm sent the soot away, and he looked up to take stock.
He was standing before a wide, dim shop's stone hearth. A glance at the glass cases—dried hands, blood-spattered playing cards, a glass eye that didn't move—and a glance the other way—human bones, odd toothed instruments, a snarling mask on the wall—was enough. He'd reached his goal: Borgin and Burkes.
He made a circuit of the shop. In the end he could only shake his head. He'd hoped to pick up something interesting, but to his eye, everything here was crude—black magic slapped onto whatever material suited, leaning more on creepy looks than on real enchantment.
"It seems nothing here quite meets the gentleman's taste," said a voice. Mr. Borgin had been behind the counter the whole time, not interrupting Loren's browsing. "If there's something you need, say the word. Borgin and Burkes can find what you require."
"People say you're the biggest operator in Knockturn Alley," Loren replied, walking toward the counter. "Why is your shop full of trinkets that can't even make the stage?"
"What is it you need?" Mr. Borgin's smile widened; he'd pegged this one as a big customer.
"I need two house-elves—able to start work immediately. Can you arrange it?"
The request made Borgin frown. House-elves were usually purchased by pre-order; the young needed training by adults before sale. Only a fraction of wizarding families owned them, and they rarely sold—unless a family had fallen on hard times and desperately needed gold.
"I'm sorry, sir. Supply is limited; your requirements are high. If it isn't urgent, I can take a reservation. If it is urgent, your only option is the cast-offs—the ones their masters abandoned. Those tend to have… personality defects, and once abandoned, they scatter. You can pay others to ask around, but most house-elves consider the abandoned their shame and won't give up their whereabouts easily."
That told Loren what he needed to know: getting a house-elf for home wouldn't be easy. But the end of Borgin's speech gave him a hint. If he wanted to recruit among the house-elf underclass, there was one place with the highest concentration: Hogwarts.
He dropped the idea of buying here. Once he returned to Hogwarts, he would contact the castle's elves and have them reach out to the abandoned ones. Then he could choose two with better temperaments.
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