Hogwarts: Bloodline Legend-Chapter 553 - 161: Return to Diagon Alley, Tumultuous Upset

In the old room.

The vintage ceiling fan creaked incessantly as it spun.

A thick layer of dust had collected on the blades, and each rotation sent tiny particles of it into the air, drifting down like a veil of nostalgia that cloaked the room in a soft and dreamy haze.

"I remember being here."

Ian’s figure busily flitted about the room’s nooks and crannies, rummaging through the clutter on the table, bending down to check underneath the desk, reaching for the old box up high.

Seeing the little wizard darting back and forth, Lupin gradually came to his senses from a state of disbelief and, somewhat perplexed, asked Ian a question.

"What are you looking for?" Lupin was still in a hazy disbelief about Ian acquiring such a staggering number of property deeds.

Those were letters from the Divine Twenty-Eight Clans, and although he didn’t know which family the letters specifically came from, he couldn’t fathom how Ian managed to obtain such astonishing wealth from them.

Lupin had believed he had done a thorough background check on Ian, who was just an orphan from the fallen Prince family. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

To the Divine Twenty-Eight Clans, Ian might have some pull, but using Diagon Alley shops as a "moneymaker" to buy loyalty was simply bewildering—and they didn’t just send over one or two shops, either. The thick stack of deeds blurred Lupin’s vision.

He was nearly moved to tears.

A poverty-stricken soul like him couldn’t afford to rent even a bathroom in Diagon Alley. Lupin’s only reasonable explanation was that the Prince family had made a contract with some families of the Divine Twenty-Eight Clans.

A contract with magical efficacy, compelling the Divine Twenty-Eight Clans to fulfill it. Otherwise, given their nature, they would find a way to renege on any debt.

"Of course I’m looking for my symbol of identity." Ian’s answer made Lupin slightly stunned, his brain pondered for a while before he looked at Ian’s conspicuous magic wand on his waist.

"Isn’t your symbol of identity right at your waist?" He thought Ian might have overlooked something obvious, yet his words did not cause Ian to stop searching.

"I’m not talking about the magic wand."

Ian emptied all his childhood toys onto the floor: the broken excavator, the little soldier missing arms and legs, all things almost wrecked by his younger siblings.

"In fact, I don’t think you should keep your wand in such a visible spot." Lupin warned Ian, knowing full well how many thieves roamed London.

While the thieves might not know what it was, they wouldn’t hesitate to take anything that seemed handy, and he’d witnessed a pitiful wizard robbed of his magic wand by Muggle thieves.

"I’ve cast a Confundus Charm on it so that Muggles won’t notice anything." Ian, as someone from an orphan background, knew London’s security situation better than Lupin.

"Used magic outside of school?"

Lupin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I practice every day."

The little wizard shared his diligence and self-discipline.

"And you haven’t been caught by the Ministry of Magic! Not even received a warning letter?" Lupin was incredulous, well aware of the Ministry’s measures to restrain little wizards.

The Ministry uses Tracking Thread to monitor young wizards’ actions.

Tracking Thread is a more sophisticated Tracking Charm designed to locate underage wizards and detect magic activities within a certain vicinity around them.

Some say there’s something done to the wand, others say Tracking Thread is a magic contract embedded in the acceptance letter, automatically activated when Hogwarts admission is accepted, enabling Ministry surveillance.

These are speculations of most students who have broken rules, and the truth no one knows, many adult wizards still don’t understand the workings of "Tracking Thread".

"I think they’re busy dealing with other matters. Haven’t you heard about the incident where the Minister of Magic got Dumbledore-phobia after a visit to Hogwarts?"

"My roommate told me the Minister is paranoid, worried Dumbledore might poison his water, and has trusted individuals repeatedly checking every corner of the Ministry every day."

"They’re too preoccupied with dealing with their paranoid Minister to bother supervising little wizards." That’s Ian’s take, though he too wondered why the Ministry hadn’t come for him. Truth be told, about Tracking Thread, Ian still couldn’t fathom its workings.

"Ha, a power-fanatic, blinded by authority, anyone with clear eyes can see Dumbledore doesn’t need to resort to poisoning to topple a Minister."

Lupin spoke with a hint of contempt. If Ian remembered correctly, Lupin was also a member of the Phoenix Society, possessing absolute loyalty to Albus Dumbledore.

"Who can say they’re not."

Ian agreed with Lupin’s view on this matter.

"I would say, it’s because Fudge’s perception of himself really..."

As he spoke, he bent down to get under his bed; however, he had just gotten halfway in when his voice abruptly stopped and his entire body froze.