"How long will it take?"
The excitement from the breakthrough had clearly worn down Belby's patience, prompting him to ask the question with unusual urgency.
"At most two or three days."
Avada smiled. "Actually, when we first synthesized that special silver powder, I already had an idea of how to block it. The time-consuming part will mainly be fine-tuning the parameters and running experiments… and with Professor Baker's help, our progress will only be faster."
"Then let's not waste time on meaningless conversation, Professor Clarke."
Belby urged, "Go to Professor Baker immediately and bring that log with you… Merlin's beard, if only I were better at alchemy…"
Avada was practically pushed out of Belby's laboratory. A moment later he heard a click behind him as the door shut, leaving only the empty corridor before him, with a faint humming sound leaking out through the doorframe.
"Wow."
He flicked the logbook in his hand, his mind still not fully recovered from the sudden good news.
"Lately… everything's been going smoothly."
"Not only did we produce results here and prove our worth, we even figured out how to counter the core technology in one go. If I start recruiting assistants now, I bet quite a few people will rush to sign up…"
"But once we eliminate the danger of werewolves going berserk at any moment, if we want to completely stop this wave of werewolf attacks, the matter will inevitably have to be made public to the wizarding world. And when that happens, the conflict between wizards and werewolves might escalate even further. Who knows what new trouble might erupt…"
"It's easy to foresee that for quite some time in the future, researching the werewolf curse will become a major task for the university. Even infiltrating Azkaban might end up involving me…"
"And the progress at the cave has been going quite smoothly too. That cauldron of potion confirmed several of my hypotheses. Dumbledore and those academic bigshots can probably move to a more comfortable and professional laboratory to continue their research. The magic sealing the entrance is almost cracked as well…"
"Wonderful. Hopefully things will keep going this smoothly…"
Lost in thought, he had already reached the door of Professor Baker's office.
After spending this much time here, although he still hadn't memorized the entire layout of Nobby Leach University, he at least knew where the professors he interacted with most often kept their offices.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Professor Baker, are you in? It's me, Clarke…"
He waited outside for a moment, but there was no response from inside the office.
"Not here?"
Avada raised an eyebrow in surprise. Logically speaking, Professor Baker shouldn't be teaching a class at this time.
"Alright, I'll come back later."
He muttered as he turned to leave.
"Hopefully Professor Belby doesn't see this, or he'll probably be even more anxious than I am…"
"Are you looking for Professor Baker, Professor Clarke?"
A voice suddenly interrupted his quiet grumbling.
He turned toward the sound and saw a student who had just happened to pass by.
"Oh, that's right."
Avada nodded. "Judging from your tone, it sounds like you intend to tell me where he is. I'd be very grateful."
"Yes, Professor."
The student smiled shyly.
"He went to the headmaster's office. I passed by there earlier and happened to see him going in with the headmaster."
"The headmaster's office?"
Avada wasn't particularly surprised. After all, Professor Baker counted as part of the senior staff at Nobby Leach University. Going to discuss something with the headmaster was perfectly normal.
"I see. Thanks for the reminder—would you like a biscuit?"
After thanking the student with a smile and casually handing him a few biscuits he carried around to maintain his human disguise, Avada left the corridor. Taking the stairs two at a time, he soon arrived outside the headmaster's office.
"Headmaster?"
He knocked lightly.
"This is Nathan Clarke. I'm looking for—"
Click.
Before he could finish speaking, the doorknob suddenly turned on its own. The door swung inward, revealing Headmistress Miranda Goshawk, along with Benjamin Baker, who was sitting across from her with a serious expression.
However, the moment they saw Avada, their expressions noticeably brightened.
"Ah, Professor Clarke."
Goshawk smiled slightly.
"If I'm not mistaken, you've probably brought some good news?"
"Yes, Headmistress."
Avada stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Professor Belby and I have successfully cracked the technology that allows werewolves to go berserk at any time. We also discovered that blocking it isn't particularly difficult. With Professor Baker's help, I believe we can develop a countermeasure within a few days—and the cost should be manageable."
As he spoke, he handed the logbook in his hand to Goshawk. At the same time, he noticed that the two of them suddenly looked much happier than before, a sharp contrast to the serious atmosphere earlier.
Looks like I've saved the day again? he thought with some satisfaction.
"That's excellent news, Professor Clarke!"
Goshawk pushed the logbook toward Professor Baker and praised him with a smile.
"And it's a huge help as well!"
"A huge help?"
Avada asked knowingly.
"That's right."
This time it was Professor Baker who nodded and continued.
"We just received an important piece of information and were discussing how to make the most of it… and just as we started talking, you delivered the key that makes it all possible."
"Then I suppose it's news about werewolves?"
"Exactly, about werewolves…"
Goshawk nodded.
"This information came from someone we have stationed within the Order of the Phoenix… Oh, right—you probably don't know about the Order of the Phoenix yet, do you?"
"…Right."
Avada forced himself to nod calmly, though his lips suddenly felt a little dry.
They've even infiltrated the Order of the Phoenix?
Wait—no. That wasn't quite right.
They had already sent hundreds of highly educated individuals into wizarding society. That meant nearly every field that required talent likely had wizards who came from this place… and therefore potential allies.
Good heavens.
For the first time, he gained an entirely new understanding of just how terrifying Nobby Leach University truly was.
"The Order of the Phoenix was a secret organization founded by Albus Dumbledore during the time of Voldemort. Its purpose was to bypass the heavily infiltrated Ministry of Magic and fight the Death Eaters directly. During the ten years of the wizarding war, it played a pivotal role."
"However, after Voldemort was severely injured and forced to flee by Harry Potter, the Order of the Phoenix disbanded… until recently."
"Until recently?"
"That's right. About half a year ago—around the time the secret werewolf attacks first began to show signs—Dumbledore contacted the former members of the Order of the Phoenix and invited them to reestablish it."
"And their purpose is the same as ours: to oppose the pure-blood families backing Voldemort who have begun to stir again."
Goshawk paused, took a sip of water, and then continued:
"And according to the latest report from our contact there… they have already located Fenrir Greyback."
"?!"