356 Knockturn alley

Nick had spent the last two days analyzing the remains of the Lethifold to hopefully figure out how the creatures operated. Even with the realms help this proved horrible complicated as many of the answers he got were paradoxical in nature and made little sense at all. See the realms analysis said that the energy in the gem both existed and did not at the same time while simultaneously being being both alive and dead as well. Nick was confused to say the least because he couldn't figure out how any of that worked without creating a singularity.-

Singularities were a theoretical magical phenomena that were created by true paradoxes such as going back in time and killing your previous self. In theory if you did this then you simultaneously failed to do this as well because you couldn't go back in time to kill your previous self if you were already dead before you did so. This never ending cycle of succeeding and failing at the same time is a theoretical singularity. According to the realm this gem is a singularity into itself that is somehow tied to the world and thus existed in it while also not at the same time.-

Needless to say even thinking about it gave Nick a headache so he dropped any hope of understanding it for now. Waking up on Saturday he got dressed in some casual wizarding clothes before speaking "Dotty!" he called out and with a loud "POP!" the house elf appeared in the common room. "Take me to Diagon alley." he commanded and his servant eagerly moved to fulfill his will. Nick got more than a few strange looks when he first arrived in the densely populated and active alley but he ignored them.-

He entered a true alley between two buildings and conjured up a full length mirror from a wall. Once he could seen his full body he tapped his wand against his chest and slowly and methodically worked to transfigure his own body into an adult form. Human transfiguration was a complex and difficult process even on someone else but using it on ones self was even more so. Still Nick merely needed a little more effort than normal to pull it off. When he was done he stood at six feet two inches and had a narrow but toned body that was covered in plain black robes.-

For his face he simply changed his eye color to blue and adjusted his features to be larger and more narrow giving himself a shifty look. His hair was removed entirely for this transfiguration and he even went so far as to add scars to his face. All in all he looked like he belonged in Knockturn alley so he figured no one should bat an eye at him. Walking out of the alley Nick joined the flow of foot traffic until he reached the entrance to the notorious alley at which point he walked into it.-

There was an almost immediate shift in the tone and feel of his surroundings as if he had walked into a dungeon all of a sudden. He knew what it was from too as his magical senses picked up the intense dark powers of the various cursed or evil objects within the stores and houses that lined the sides of Knockturn alley. This wasn't to say that there weren't normal or positive magical signatures as well but the number of the dark ones far out numbered those. The people in the alley also had fearful or predatory gazes about them that showed Nick that he needed to stay on his toes.-

"You are a new face in these parts so you must not know that there is a toll to pass through this area. Nothing major , only a mere twelve galleons." a Man with dirty hair and many broken teeth said with a greedy smile. Nick merely Pointed at the man with his left hand and a gout of flames leapt from his fingers and consumed the man before he could even scream leaving not even ashes behind. Those watching this from nearby hoping for a good show immediately turned away and acted as if nothing happened fearfully.-

No one thought about getting the aurors involved at all as scenes like this weren't uncommon and no sane auror would willingly come to this place. Nick coldly continued walking as he had made his stance on moving against him clear. Had the man not reeked of foul magic and blood Nick might have hesitated to kill him but he did so there was no reason to have mercy. Despite that though he felt disgusted by the thought of killing and held onto that feeling knowing that it was all that stopped him from taking the last step into evil wizarding territory.