Early the next morning, Victor Wick was tinkering with a massive mirror in his office.
Seated before the mirror, he tapped a key on his strange keyboard, and a faint blue screen shimmered into existence above it.
Victor stroked his chin before placing both hands on the keys, his fingers dancing across them in a rapid rhythm...
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//Hogwarts Shadow Mirror Console
//Magical Mirror: Abyss Peering Glass - Dark Creature Real-time Projection System
//Author: Victor Wick
//Function: Summon, stabilize, project, and imprison all dark creature spirit projections
void mirrorShadowCore(){
//Initialize mirror space
mirror.init(SPACE_DARK_MAGIC, BOUND_SAFE_PROJECTION);
//Disable materialization, light and shadow projection only
mirror.setRule(PROJECTION_ONLY);
mirror.lockEntitySummon();
//Load dark creature projection library
loadCreatureShadow(CREATURE_DEMENTOR); //Dementor
loadCreatureShadow(CREATURE_WEREWOLF); //Werewolf
loadCreatureShadow(CREATURE_VAMPIRE); //Vampire
...
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Just as Victor was in the middle of his work, a soft knock came at the door.
Judging by the rhythm, the person outside seemed quite hesitant...
Victor turned toward the entrance. Lucky dashed over and stood on his hind legs, hooking the handle with his front paws and pulling it down.
"Click!"
The door swung open.
Shafiq, who was holding a gift box, stared in shock at Lucky.
He had truly never seen a dog that could open doors for people before...
"Oh... Mr. Shafiq, are you out of the hospital already?" Victor asked, tapping a key.
The screen before him dissolved into a spray of light particles and vanished.
"Yes... Professor Wick, I feel much better now." Shafiq stood stiffly at the threshold.
"Don't just stand there, come in." Victor walked over and ushered Shafiq inside, closing the door behind him.
Wagging his tail, Lucky sniffed at Shafiq's trouser leg before sitting down quietly to watch his master.
Victor pulled over a chair for Shafiq and then poured him a cup of hot tea.
"I... I came today to thank you, Professor Wick. If you hadn't spoken up for me..." Shafiq set the gift box down, his eyes full of gratitude.
"Oh... no need for more thanks. I'm your professor, your teacher—it is just part of the job. I have always believed that a professor should teach more than just facts." Victor pulled up another chair and sat down casually.
"No... Professor, it might have been a simple gesture to you, but to me... and to the House of Shafiq, it was an invaluable lifeline," Shafiq said earnestly.
"The family?" Victor rubbed his chin. "I recall the Shafiqs are one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. A prestigious pure-blood family."
A bitter smile crossed Shafiq's face. "Those are just empty titles now... In truth, the Shafiq family has long since fallen into decline... our numbers are dwindling, and our assets are shrinking. If something had happened to me, then..."
The Shafiq family had indeed been prominent once, but their elders had risked everything to follow Grindelwald's revolution, only to lose the bet. Later, they joined Voldemort's cause and lost again... Since then, the family had spiraled into obscurity.
By now, he was the only male heir left in the Shafiq family.
So, if he had truly accidentally killed Harry Potter last night, or if Victor hadn't stood up for him...
The Shafiq name would have plunged straight into the abyss.
"I understand what you mean, Mr. Shafiq." Victor had pieced together the family's plight.
"My mother heard about what happened last night. She told me I must thank you in person," Shafiq added.
"It was nothing..." Victor looked at him, then suddenly asked, "You mentioned your family's numbers are thin?"
"Yes..."
"That is easy to fix. Just have more children later. Your family may have declined, but surely you can afford to raise kids? No matter how poor you are, could you be poorer than the Weasleys? Look at how many children they have!"
At the mention of the Weasleys, Shafiq scratched his head. They certainly weren't that poor...
"Do you have a girlfriend right now?" Victor asked abruptly.
"Uh..." Shafiq scratched his head again. "I did... but after last night..."
Though he did not finish, Victor understood perfectly.
While the incident had not been Shafiq's fault, he had certainly lost face. It was only natural for a girlfriend to break up with him over it.
"That is a blessing in disguise, Mr. Shafiq. It proves she was not the right one for you," Victor said. "You have a long life ahead of you. Just find someone else."
Shafiq looked troubled, hesitant to speak.
"Hmm?" Victor looked at him curiously. "You are not a bad-looking guy. Finding a girlfriend should not be that hard, right?"
"It is not that... Professor, the Shafiq family has fallen. My girlfriend... she was the only pure-blood who would even look at me..." Shafiq said helplessly.
Victor blinked. "Does your family require you to marry a pure-blood girl?"
Shafiq nodded.
"Well, no wonder your numbers are thin," Victor said, shaking his head.
"There is no other way... marrying anyone else would taint the bloodline..." Shafiq sighed.
Victor looked at him with utter disbelief. "I have to disagree with you, Mr. Shafiq. In my view, only livestock care about pedigree."
Shafiq looked up in shock. He wanted to argue against such a rude comparison, but he did not dare speak his mind...
"Take my Lucky here. He is a purebred Chinese Rural Dog! See how majestic he is?" Victor pointed at Lucky.
Lucky, his coat sleek and shiny, rushed over with a wagging tail. He bared his teeth and offered Victor the highest canine honor: the hand-nip greeting.
Only this time, he nipped a bit too hard...
"You people... you are just too honest. Do you know why the Malfoy family remains so prosperous?"
Victor pulled his hand away, shook off the droplets of blood, and casually healed the wound with magic.
"Because they are rich?" Shafiq ventured hesitantly.
"You used to be rich too!" Victor said, pressing down on the dog's head with a frown.
"Uh... then why? Is it because they are better at business?" Shafiq asked, puzzled.
"No, no, no... not at all. In fact, throughout history, the Malfoy family has declined several times, just like the Shafiqs."
"Then how did they recover?" Shafiq asked curiously.
"Because... they secretly intermarried with Muggles. It is as simple as that," Victor chuckled.
Shafiq stared at Victor in disbelief. "The Malfoys? Marrying Muggles?"
That Malfoy family, who looked down their noses at Muggles every chance they got, had actually intermarried with them?!
"The prosperity of a family depends fundamentally on its people. A larger family is a thriving family. The Malfoys understood this, which is why they have endured. Of course, they would never let the public know about the Muggle blood."
"Then... how do you know, Professor?" Shafiq asked blankly.
Victor smiled at him, a profound expression on his face.
Shafiq immediately recalled some of the rumors circulating about Victor Wick...
'Right, Professor Wick probably beat the information out of a Malfoy.'
"Actually, the pure-blood theory is fundamentally flawed. Are pure-bloods powerful? Undeniably, some are. But..." Victor said softly, "I have known many more brilliant wizards from Muggle-born and half-blood backgrounds... they are not any weaker than pure-bloods. Your Professor Snape is incredibly powerful and talented, is he not? And yet, he is a half-blood."
Victor had never been a fan of pure-blood supremacy. After learning that Voldemort himself was a half-blood with a Muggle father, he dismissed it entirely.
Voldemort's father was a Muggle, yet look how formidable he became! That was proof enough that a wizard's strength had little to do with their lineage.
Shafiq lowered his head, pondering Victor's words. They flew in the face of everything his family had drummed into him since childhood.
"The truth is, none of us can choose our birth... but fortunately, we can choose who we become. Shafiq... what kind of person do you want to be?" Victor asked.
"I... I want to restore my family..."
"Then start by changing yourself. Become strong. Remember, the power of choice always rests in the hands of the strong."
Shafiq's pupils dilated, his breathing quickening at the words. "You are right!"
"Alright then... you are in your sixth year, are you not? Your workload should not be too heavy?"
"I am nearing graduation, so the classes are not too many..." Shafiq replied.
"Then, would you be interested in becoming my assistant?"
"An... assistant?" Shafiq's eyes widened as he stared at Victor.
"Nothing too strenuous. Just helping me with a few things, provided it does not interfere with your studies... or your dating life." A faint, imperceptible glint flickered in Victor's eyes.
Finding a trustworthy student with a certain level of ability to serve as an assistant would make his upcoming plans much easier to execute.
Shafiq, a fresh sixth-year, was capable of casting a Killing Curse of that magnitude; his talent was actually quite impressive.
A surge of warmth rose in Shafiq's chest.
Although the incident from the previous night had technically been resolved thanks to Victor's intervention, the lingering impact remained.
But if he could follow Victor Wick and serve as his assistant...
Then, with Victor's current reputation, the inevitable rumors would vanish much faster, dispelled by the professor's show of trust!
Most importantly, by staying by the side of such a powerful wizard, he would surely learn so much more! It was his best chance to become strong!
'Professor Wick is... trying to give me another hand up!'
"You do not need to give me an answer right away, Mr. Shafiq. You can go back and think it over..."
"No! No need to think! Professor Wick! I am in!"
"I am glad to hear it, Mr. Shafiq." Victor reached out and gave his hand a firm shake. "Rest assured, I will not have you working for nothing. I believe that with your effort, you will soon learn enough from me to restore your family. Besides, I happen to have some connections in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds... you understand, I am sure."
It was a classic case of dangling a carrot... Voldemort did not usually bother with such things, but Grindelwald certainly did.
Grindelwald had far more followers, so Victor figured it was a good time to take a page out of his book...
Sure enough, Grindelwald's methods worked like a charm. Shafiq's eyes were practically bloodshot with fervor.
"Professor! I want to excel so badly!"
Loyalty!
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