#814 - search

Thick water masses and unbridled flames collided fiercely.

Under Moody and Anduin's control, the water and flames transformed into giant beasts of various shapes, constantly tearing and fighting in mid-air, eventually intensifying the battle and widening the affected area.

Before long, a large area outside the magical barrier was entirely covered by water and fire, even the airspace dozens of meters high was not spared.

Seeing this spectacular scene, the wizards of Ilvermorny couldn't help but stare in amazement.

Is this definitely a pursuit of a thief and not a duel between legendary wizards? Did they have to fight so intensely!

"Is this thief a bit too strong?" one school wizard exclaimed, "His strength has surpassed most of MACUSA's Aurors, who on earth is he?"

"To dare come to Ilvermorny to cause trouble, he must have some tricks up his sleeve, and looking at his attire, he resembles those bounty hunters who operate on the fringes of morality!" the knowledgeable leading professor reminded.

"Bounty hunter? Does that mean he might be acting under someone's orders?" a faculty member wondered.

"That possibility can't be ruled out!"

"Who exactly wants to antagonize Ilvermorny?"

"Could it be the Purifiers? They've been very active recently, haven't they?"

Somehow, everyone's speculation about Anduin's identity suddenly went off in a strange direction.

Now everyone suspects that today's farce was created by some mysterious organization, and may even involve some great conspiracy behind it.

Only the leading professor shook his head helplessly, refocusing his attention on the duel between the two.

"Isolt and James above, Mr. Moody is too dedicated, he didn't hesitate at all when facing such a formidable opponent."

"Indeed, Mr. Moody clearly didn't need to get involved, but he still stepped forward without hesitation!" a faculty member echoed.

While everyone was watching this shocking duel, the magical barrier in front of them suddenly rippled with dots of light, then opened into a gap large enough for several people to pass through.→

The leading professor complained with slight dissatisfaction, then excitedly shouted forward.

"Mr. Moody, we're here, let's leave this bastard to us!"

After shouting, the leading wizard led a group of faculty members and ran wildly outwards.

To be honest, it was already embarrassing enough to take so long to catch a thief, and they even had to rely on outsiders to hold back the enemy.

So everyone was in a state of full battle readiness, eager to take over the battle personally.

Hearing the voices of the crowd, Moody's heart tightened, and he hurriedly winked at Anduin.

The meaning was simple, to tell him to act quickly, lest complications arise when the battle becomes chaotic later.

Anduin naturally understood this principle, so before the Ilvermorny wizards could get close, he suddenly exerted force, pushing the water around him outwards in one go.

In the previous confrontation, Anduin had always been on the defensive, but his 'Aguamenti' had never stopped.

So although he looked like he was on the passive side, the accumulated water had gathered into a huge force.

Therefore, when he completely released these clear waters, the scene was earth-shattering, as if a real tsunami had appeared.

The wizards rushing forward were all startled by the sight, but they were, after all, faculty members of a magic school, and several of them were in-service professors.

So they reacted quickly when facing this monstrous wave and began to cast spells to resist.

Some wizards used quite skilled Transfiguration spells to transform the water into ice or stone.

Some wizards used Dissolving Charms to directly disperse the water, and some more straightforward wizards directly used Protego or Shield Charms to defend.

But the amount of water released by Anduin was too great, and the enormous pressure caused by the surging water dragged all the reinforcing wizards in place, and some of the less skilled were even washed away by the waves.

At the same time, after stopping everyone, Anduin did not hesitate, neatly took out a Portkey from his body, winked at Moody, activated it, and instantly disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this scene, the Ilvermorny wizards were greatly alarmed and prepared to take action to stop or interfere with Anduin's actions, but the suppressive force of the released wave was too strong, and even the most skilled wizards were held back for a moment.

So by the time everyone was free, the thief in their eyes had long since disappeared without a trace.

"This..." the leading Ilvermorny professor was speechless for a moment in the face of all this. He finally had a chance to attack as a group, but before they could show their skills, the person was gone.

At the same time, what shocked them even more was the opponent's means of leaving, that was a Portkey!

How could this controlled item appear on a thief who was suspected of being a bounty hunter? Could it be...

The leading professor seemed to have thought of something, and his expression gradually became ugly.

"Sorry! I was careless, I didn't expect him to run away, alas..."

Compared to the stunned Ilvermorny faculty members, Moody patted his clothes without any psychological burden, and then put on a very hypocritical expression of regret.

"Don't say that! Mr. Moody." The leading professor waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this, "If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid we would have had to watch him slip away before leaving the magic barrier."

Faced with the current situation, Ilvermorny couldn't shift the blame onto Moody. He was originally a guest, but not only did they not take good care of him, but they also had to ask him to stand up and take responsibility for the school's dereliction of duty.

The other party had openly escaped in front of everyone just now. If they were to investigate responsibility, then none of them could escape the blame.

And everyone had clearly seen the battle scene just now. The invading wizard was indeed highly skilled, and no one could have predicted the Portkey.

"Damn... it's all my fault, if I hadn't planned to capture the other party alive, I wouldn't have delayed for so long, I should have given him an Avada Kedavra from the beginning."

Moody slapped his thigh in feigned annoyance, then showed a concerned expression, "How is it, the school's losses aren't too great, are they?"

"Not big, not big..." The leading professor chuckled awkwardly.

Everyone had heard of Moody's ferocity, but they didn't dare to respond positively to his confident statement that he was ready to kill.

After all, using Unforgivable Curses is also a taboo in the United States, and they were really afraid that Moody would start a massacre.

Next, the Ilvermorny wizards even comforted the furious Moody, and as a result, the theft of the Serpentwood was thrown to the back of everyone's minds.

...

On the other side, Anduin used the Portkey to teleport directly from America back to Europe.

But he wasn't in a hurry to return to Hogwarts. He left the school just before Christmas, and going back now would just be in time for the holidays.

Therefore, he planned to take advantage of this holiday to use the Serpentwood to explore the traces of Herpo the Foul, and Nick also sent a message, preparing to officially hand over the Philosopher's Stone to him.

So Anduin first sent messages to Sirius and Harry, telling Harry to spend the holidays with Black this year, and then officially set off, starting a super long-distance tracking journey.

And his first step was to return to France to find Nicolas Flamel and share the information he obtained from the Serpentwood.

Nick was also very surprised by this, Slytherin actually encountered Herpo the Foul?

This matter greatly exceeded his expectations.

Not to mention that the core runes of the Philosopher's Stone actually flowed from Slytherin to Herpo the Foul.

【Magic Mist】 plus 【Source Rune】, it seems that everything can be explained.

At the same time, Nick was also very shocked by Anduin's efficiency. He had lived for hundreds of years, but his efforts were not as fruitful as Anduin's efforts over a few months.

This really made him feel ashamed, and at the same time, Nick became more determined in his thoughts, the opportunity to find and completely eliminate Herpo the Foul lies with Anduin.

Therefore, Nick showed great trust and support for Anduin's decisions and actions, and even offered to accompany him to track down Herpo the Foul.

Of course, Anduin refused in the end. After all, this was just tracking, it wasn't like he had to rush up and fight Herpo the Foul after finding him, and Nick's body, which had experienced hundreds of years, couldn't withstand the bumps and ravages of the road.

So Anduin took the Philosopher's Stone without hesitation and left for his first destination, Northern Europe.

After all, this was the region that Salazar Slytherin prioritized visiting after leaving the school, and it was also the place where Anduin was most likely to find clues in his mind.

But in the actual search process, Anduin still encountered difficulties.

The first and foremost was the Serpentwood's collapsing sense of direction, he originally thought that as long as he left the United States, it would soon be able to track down Slytherin's traces back then, judging from the Serpentwood's confident appearance.

But the reality is that this Serpentwood is even more exaggerated than the most serious road idiot in reality, every time it arrives at a place, the only thing it can tell Anduin is whether Slytherin has been here before.

For example, in the largest wizarding gathering area in Northern Europe, the Serpentwood clearly told him that the master had been there.

But the Serpentwood didn't know anything about where Slytherin had been to in the gathering area, how long he had stayed, and in which direction he had moved in the end.

Moreover, perhaps because the time that had passed was too long, the Serpentwood's answers became hesitant and hesitant in some places that had undergone great changes.

Can you believe it? This broken wand actually said words like 'seems' and 'apparently'.

Therefore, in this case, Anduin could only carry out a carpet search in Northern Europe in an extremely inefficient manner.