HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Broken Axe Bar.

Standing in front of the filthy bar, looking at the sign above, Teach Carr now understood why the Broken Axe Bar was so famous.

Because the wall behind this pub is currently the only passage for Muggle-born wizards to enter the magical world, Broken Axe Pub is officially certified. With this approval, the pub has opened in every corner of the UK. Wherever there are wizards, there will be this pub.

After shaking his head in admiration, Teach pushed open the door and entered.

There was no silence, no one drawing attention; the wizards in the bar drank their wizard's wine and chatted with their companions about magic.

Among them were some modernly dressed young wizards who, accompanied by their wizarding parents or Hogwarts school guides, arrived early to stay in the pub.

Teach could tell that these little wizards were either orphans or from single-parent families where no one cared for or loved them.

Or perhaps it's a foster family like Harry Potter's, who, upon discovering that the child is a wizard, develops a strong aversion to him, which leads some first-year students about to enter Hogwarts to have to stay temporarily in the Broken Axe Inn, waiting alone for the school to start two months later.

The task of a Hogwarts wizard is demanding and not one-on-one; they won't stay in the pub looking after a young wizard for two months.

After glancing at the situation, Teach went to the bar and ordered a wizard's exclusive beer, 'Butterbeer', which he had only heard of but never had the chance to drink.

Teach looked at the dark wooden barrel and wine glass with disgust, but out of curiosity, he closed his eyes and took a sip.

【Huh...】

【This... tastes surprisingly good!】

[It has pumpkin juice, a mix of various fruits, a malty aroma, high-purity alcohol, and another... indescribable flavor that I find very delicious.]

Teach suspected that the indescribable taste was the result of magic applied to the wine.

The bar owner looked at Teach Carl, wondering why this handsome, aristocratic man with silver-rimmed glasses and one gold and one black eye showed no signs of natural magical energy. Strange as it was, he wouldn't meddle.

As for doubting that Teach wasn't a wizard? In his mind, that was impossible, because no ordinary person could break through the Muggle Dispel Charm and come to his branch of the bar to drink.

Guided by the delicious taste of the beer, Teach became less bothered by the filth and disorder of the bar. After ordering a few dishes, he sat down at a table and listened intently to the conversations of the wizards around him.

"—Little wizard, I've brought you here. I've already paid your lodging fee, but my generosity isn't free. After you graduate from Hogwarts, you'll need to repay me double these Galleons. Come on, sign this magical IOU."

"--Damn it, my potion-making failed again. You know, I sold my ass to get those precious materials! What, you want me to sell my ass again? No way, absolutely not."

"Sigh~, I failed my job application at the magic company again. How come it's so hard for me, a dignified seventh-year graduate of Hogwarts, to find a job? Didn't the professor who picked me up say that I would be guaranteed a job and have room and board after graduation?"

"—Brother, let me tell you, I'm planning to pull off a big heist. I've already scouted the location, all I need is you, the Crouching Dragon, to help me. What about the Phoenix Chick? Are you blind? Aren't I the one?"

Listening to what was being said in the bar, Teach couldn't help but think to himself, "What the hell is this nonsense...?"

[Did they lure underage wizards into taking out high-interest loans?]

[Would you sell your body but not your skills for a magic potion?]

No food to eat after graduation?

[A gang crime?]

Just as Teach was preparing to move to another wizarding community to continue gathering information on Aurors or dragons, a wizard complained, "Shake, has your transfer application been approved?"

"No, where are you, Tang De?"

"Sigh~ It's even worse than yours. It's like throwing a stone into the sea. The Ministry of Magic hasn't even given a reply of rejection. It's been five years. I've been assigned to guard the black dragon on this godforsaken island for five years. Do you know how I've spent these five years?"

Xia Ke empathized; she was assigned here because she refused to cooperate with her superiors.

In just one year, she began to feel the torment of this guarding job. The work was not only boring and arduous, but also extremely dangerous. The black dragon was not a docile magical creature, and every time she fed it, she could easily be eaten by it.

When not feeding them, you must clean up the dragon's droppings all over the island to prevent Muggles from finding any trace of the dragon.

When bored, I can't sneak out to find fun according to the rules, so I can only wander around this tiny island and drink alone. It's like there's no future for me.

Teach Carr buried his head in his butterbeer, his eyes fixed on the two Auror wizards guarding the black dragon on the island.

Teach leisurely finished his beer, got up and went to the bar to refill it. On the way, he deliberately passed by the tables of two Auror wizards and sprinkled a bag of magic powder on them.

Teach's actions were all so natural and reasonable that the two Auror wizards felt nothing unusual about their bodies and were still complaining to each other about their extreme boredom with their work.

Broken Axe Bar is open all night because the wizards have plenty of energy.

Teach ate his magical snacks and drank his butterbeer, sitting there leisurely until dawn. When the two Auror wizards left in the middle of the night, Teach didn't chase after them: [No rush, the magic powder has already been sprinkled, they can't escape our notice.]

As dawn broke, the bar owner prepared to clean up, and at that moment, Teach voluntarily left.

The mornings on the island are different from those on the mainland, filled with the cool breath of the sea.

Teach bought a modern bicycle in town and strolled along the island road, hoping to find traces of the black dragon's activities and check if the two Auror wizards' residences had any magical defenses.

Fortunately, Teach had plenty of energy and after wandering around, he found the black dragon's droppings. He used magic to analyze and examine the droppings on the spot before quickly leaving.

He had no magical energy pores or natural magical flow; he was a standard Muggle.

In the magical world, with the birth of 'Squibs' in wizarding families, wizards have long had a way to distinguish wizards from Muggles at a glance.

So Teach didn't want to be seen by those two Auror wizards on duty, then be asked why a Muggle without 'natural magic' would be interested in black dragon dung, and then get hit with a Forgetfulness Curse.

With the Petrifying Eye, Teach gained resistance and immunity to some common spells, but being hit head-on by a Forgetfulness Curse was like being slapped in the face without being able to retaliate—a humiliation Teach couldn't bear.

Therefore, it's best to avoid contact before taking any official action.