Chapter 232 Cursing a Chicken

It was a quick matter to leave Loch Lomond.

Dumbledore and Anthony shared the last skinny fish, Nico rolled up the tent, Perenelle put away the boat and fishing rod, doused the campfire with lake water, stepped on the wet ashes, and circled around them a few times, muttering something.

With a very slight sound, Anthony saw something golden flash in the black ashes and disappeared.

Before he could put away his curious expression, Perenelle had already raised her head. She smiled at him and explained, "Magic leaves traces."

Dumbledore said, "The Flashback Charm can detect spells that have been used by the wand, magic near underage wizards will trigger traces, and the True Form can detect and erase magic that attempts to conceal the original appearance of an object..."

He gestured to Anthony to look at the barbecue grill that was being magically rolled up and put into his pocket: "And powerful alchemical products are like black magic props. They exude an aura that cannot be ignored under the right observation method. Nico and Perenelle are very familiar with various methods of detecting and covering up traces of magic."

Nico said, "You make us sound like some criminals."

He was carefully wrapping a set of exquisite silver cutlery around his arms. They stuck softly and melted into the dark silver pattern on his sleeves.

Dumbledore continued, as if he had not heard Nico's complaint: "They are two famous and elusive foxes."

"The foxes are going to visit your pet chickens, Henry," Nico said, finally standing by the lake and taking a deep breath, "Okay, let's go."

...

With a light snap, the four of them appeared in the alley behind Anthony's address. Several quarreling birds were startled and flew away.

"Ah, Muggles," Nico said, sniffing the smell in the air, "You live with Muggles?"

"Yes," Anthony said, leading them around the door, pushing open the baffle of the mailbox and squinting inside. "Advertisements, no letters. Excellent."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Anthony," someone called from behind him.

Anthony turned around and saw Mrs. Jones holding a shopping bag, looking at him in surprise.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Jones," Anthony said.

Nico, Perenelle and Dumbledore seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, leaving Anthony alone in the weedy garden.

"Why are you back?" Mrs. Jones asked in confusion, "What happened?"

"No, nothing serious." Anthony said, he thought for a moment and added, "Kevin has adapted very well to school, I think he has become good friends with his roommate."

"Great, I guess I can hear a lot of interesting things when Kevin comes back for Christmas." Mrs. Jones nodded to Anthony, "I don't mean to take up too much of your time, Mr. Anthony, I just think I should say hello."

"Of course, then I wish you a good afternoon, Mrs. Jones." Anthony said, "If there is anything I can do for you, don't hesitate, please tell me directly."

"I will." Mrs. Jones said, then she seemed to suddenly think of something and hesitated.

Anthony asked: "What's wrong?"

"This is really stupid..." Mrs. Jones said a little embarrassedly, her face slightly red, "Anyway, you know Professor Lockhart, right?"

...

After Mrs. Jones left, the other three wizards appeared silently beside Anthony, like dew condensing from the air.

"Who is Lockhart?" Nico asked in confusion, putting a translucent stone into his pocket. Perenelle was stroking a round ring made of pure gold on his hand, and Dumbledore seemed to have only lifted the Disillusionment Curse.

Anthony hesitated: "Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a very famous adventurer and writer."

"Adventurer..." Nico said thoughtfully, "Two hundred years have passed..."

Dumbledore smiled and reminded him: "Before you start your adventure again, don't forget the ghost chicken, Nico."

"Okay, okay." Nico sighed, "You're really a killjoy, Albus."

Dumbledore walked into the door that Anthony opened: "Forgive me, Nico. I'm just a mortal with limited time."

With a click, Anthony turned on the light.

Dumbledore's eyes swept over the neatly made sofa, the clean table and the empty windowsill. He nodded familiarly to the ghost chicken that had poked its head out after hearing the noise, and then turned back to look at Nico and Perenelle, and hummed in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Perenelle asked.

"I'm the most normal living thing in the whole room." Dumbledore pondered, "This is not common."

Nico argued: "Perenelle and I are more normal living things, because we have lived longer than you... uh, many years."

"More than five hundred years." Perenelle said.

The ghost chicken and Anthony met eyes. Anthony found that he couldn't tell which of them was more normal dead things.

...

Under the guidance of the more normal living things, the most normal living things built a complete set of alchemical equipment.

Anthony's job was to provide them with enough carbonated drinks and puffed foods, and to sit next to Nico and Perenelle and play Monopoly with them.

"I have sworn not to participate in any alchemy experiments again." Nico said, using an advertising leaflet to block the golden light reflected when Dumbledore assembled the instrument, and stared at the chessboard unswervingly, "I hate settling accounts. This Gives me a headache."

"Albus, it would be best to make the bar a little longer," said Perenal. "The chicken is more... fluffy than we expected."

The Wraith Chicken paced beside them with its chest puffed out, jumping on chairs from time to time, and flying to the top of the refrigerator.

Dumbledore looked at the drawings and nodded: "No problem."

"You're going bankrupt, Nico," Perenal said, looking at the card. "Give me fourteen hundred pounds."

"There must be something wrong..." Nico muttered nonchalantly and handed her the fake coins.

Anthony hesitated and did not remind Nico that he only needed to pay eight hundred pounds. Perenal smiled at him.

After a while, Nico was really broke.

Perenaar played with Anthony for a few minutes and seemed a little bored. When Nico was not paying attention, he transferred all the cards to Anthony and declared that he was also bankrupt.

"No, Perenal," Nico frowned, "Do you make me pay more every time?"

Dumbledore said from a distance: "She is."

"I was wondering when you would realize it," Perenal said with a smile. "You are the worst arithmetic apprentice in the world, Nico, but you are also a genius alchemist."

Anthony walked up to Dumbledore and looked at the incredibly delicate huge golden instrument: "Is there anything I can do to help, sir?"

"Of course," said Dumbledore seriously, "I'd be happy to have a Coke."

…

While the alchemy equipment was slowly heating up ("turning from white to red"), the four of them played another game of Monopoly. Nico complained, carefully calculating on the paper.

Anthony secretly suspects that the other three can manipulate the dice, but he has no proof, so he can only walk to other people's plots again and again.

He was the first to lose. The Wraith Chicken flew onto his lap and squatted down.

"Five times seven... let the chicken peck the instrument, Henry." Nico said without raising his head, "then soak the fallen thing in water and let it drink. Nine plus three..."

"Okay." Anthony said, holding the chicken and standing next to the instrument, "Hmm... where to peck?"

Nico said: "Instrument. That golden thing on the table."

"Let your pet pick a spot anywhere on the instrument that he wants to peck," Perenal said.

Anthony looked down at the Wraith Chicken and put it on the table. The Wraith Chicken spread its wings and shook its body.

"You heard me, peck," Anthony said. The Wraith Chicken looked at him sideways, then lowered his head and touched the place closest to it with his beak.

A soft hum echoed through the room, and then with a click, a small piece of white, oval stone fell out.

"Ah ha, five hundred and twenty-five!" said Nico. "Give me five hundred and twenty-five, Albus—have you drank it?"

Anthony almost didn't realize he was talking to himself.

"Not yet," he said loudly, taking a glass of tap water and throwing the stone in. "It has not melted, Mr. Flamel. Do I need to stir it?"

"Of course it won't melt," Flamel said matter-of-factly. "It's a stone, not sugar. Just give it water."

"Uh...okay."

Anthony reached out and took out a teacup from the cupboard and poured water into it.

"Tea, chick," he said, pushing the cup forward.

…

After pouring all the water into the Wraith Chicken's mouth, Nico finally turned around.

Dumbledore, also broke, was assigned to dismantle the still-gleaming instrument ("Come on, Albus, don't let anyone see me standing with the alchemical instrument"), while Nico cheerfully held He gestured with the table knife on his wrist.

"Left arm, Mr. Flamel," Anthony reminded.

"Oh, yes, that's right," Nico said.

Before Anthony could say "And it's not a table knife," Nico had already given himself a knife - the sharpest table knife Anthony had ever seen - and spilled blood on the tiles.

"I curse you with the flesh and blood of a living person," Nico said happily, holding up the parchment. The blood on the ground suddenly boiled violently, with traces of purple smoke coming out. "I curse you with the bones that were once awakened by undead magic. You," he said briskly, pointing to a piece of basilisk bone in front of him, "what's next... Oh, under the witness of death, you have nothing to do with this land of living things!"

A dark yellow magic spell flew out from the tip of his finger pointing at the Wraith Chicken. Even though the words of the curse were different from Quirrell's, the magic responded immediately.

The Wraith Chicken stood there, letting the curse sink into his body.

From the perspective of undead magic, Anthony clearly felt something shaking. Immediately afterwards, the connection between him and the Wraith Chicken seemed to slowly become stronger.

"Oh, this is so interesting!" Nico said happily, "It's like pulling weeds!"

Perhaps because he was awake this time, or perhaps because the designed experiment was more accurate, Anthony clearly understood the changes in the Wraith Chicken during the entire curse process.

It was as if someone had picked up the teapot and poured the relationship between the Wraith Chicken and the entire house into Anthony's body.

The "Land of the Living" no longer sustains the Wraith Chicken, so Anthony - the summoner of the Wraith Chicken - becomes a new land, a land of death.

Deep in his mind, like a faint star lighting up in the night sky, he can also sense the Wraith Chicken's emotions.

Following the connection, Anthony feels a tremor of joy and peace, like the low clucking sound of a chicken when it gets food.

Anthony opens his eyes and feels a weight on his head. The Wraith Chicken flies up and pulls his hair in a friendly way.

There will be another update today!!