The stunning spell struck from behind, and Fleur had no time to react. She was directly hit by the spell and knocked unconscious on the ground.
"Creel" sneered as she approached the fallen Fleur, as her entire head underwent a terrifying transformation.
"She" twisted her facial skin like rubber clay, and her features mixed together. Soon, her face changed dramatically, finally settling into a man's face.
It was Jonathan, the wizard whom Fleur was suspicious of in the alley yesterday, and who was related to the loss of her wand.
"You filthy wench, I've put a lot of effort into capturing you." Jonathan cursed and reached out to lift Fleur.
However, at his feet, the tender grass suddenly transformed into vine-like tendrils, rapidly climbing up his legs. Before he could realize what was happening, the tendrils reached his waist, binding him tightly like a strait jacket.
Sherlock dispelled his disillusionment charm in front of a tree.
As his proficiency in Transfiguration grew, he preferred not to use direct spells during ambushes. Whether it was petrification, stunning, or disarming spells, they all required chanting the incantation and the waving wand, which took time and could leave room for errors during surprise attacks.
Higher-level, but more practical Transfiguration didn't have such concerns. As long as the range was within the reach of magic, Transfiguration could directly affect the objects and change their properties.
Most Transfiguration spells could omit the incantation after sufficient practice without affecting the final transformation effect.
Jonathan had no room to resist. Sherlock walked to Jonathan's side and picked up his wand.
Jonathan stared fiercely at Sherlock and asked, "When did you notice?"
Sherlock released some of the vine bindings on Jonathan while taking out a bag from his pocket. He replied,
"Yesterday in the alley, your tattoo were quite distinctive don't you think?. I think I've seen them somewhere before, care to explain?"
Opening the bag that Sherlock had found on Jonathan, it was evident that it had been enchanted with a extension spell.
Using this spell on unauthorized objects was considered illegal in any magical department. Since regular wizards couldn't verify the reliability of the extension spell, it could lead to accidents, causing the items inside to be squeezed out by the expanded space and potentially harming the wizard or people nearby.
Inside the bag were over fifty wands. They were divided into five wooden boxes, each containing ten wands, and among them, there should be the one Fleur had lost earlier.
Hearing how Sherlock had discovered the problem, Jonathan sneered, "You don't recognize that symbol? It seems not many people remember the great one who once swept through the entire European wizarding world, nearly single-handedly changing the world."
"Oh?" Sherlock tilted his head, recalling some memories from magical history.
"Isn't he the one known as the Dark Lord who dropped almost all of wizarding Europe to their knees? He almost changed the entire world during the early 20th century."
"If you know, then you should understand you can't mess with us!" Jonathan threatened.
Sherlock shrugged. "I do acknowledge that the ambitions of the Dark Lord Grindelwald are much loftier than his descendants, but that doesn't change the fact that he's history now. Isn't he still imprisoned in Austria?"
"And looking at your young appearance, you probably don't belong to the remnants of that era. Just a delusional fan trying to associate yourself with them?"
Jonathan's face turned red upon hearing Sherlock's words, clearly touching a nerve.
He angrily roared, "What do you know! Wands are the noblest works of art in this world! Especially wands used by outstanding wizards, they embody the essence of magic! You common wizards wouldn't understand such art!"
Sherlock blinked. While he had already guessed that Jonathan was a thief with an extreme obsession with wands, he didn't expect the obsession to be this extreme.
But it made sense; without such fanatic love, how could he have impersonated Nicolas Flamel and swindled so many exceptional young wizards' wands?
"You really have great audacity to steal wands," Sherlock commented as he continued listening to Jonathan's rants. "I assume you're not just a wild fan of Grindelwald. You're their die-hard fan, using their name to bring disgrace upon them."
Jonathan's wails gradually subsided, and Sherlock alone muttered for a while with no response from him. Sherlock then lifted his foot, realizing that he had broken Jonathan's nose, causing him to pass out from the pain.
Sherlock looked at Jonathan's face, covered in blood, snot, and tears, and sneered, "You got off easy by passing out."
Sherlock walked to Fleur's side, making sure she was only unconscious without any other injuries, then looked at her right hand.
Her hand was clenched tightly, and a red crystal could faintly be seen between her fingers.
Sherlock shook his head with a smile; this little girl was quite stubborn.
As he prepared to levitate both Jonathan and Fleur and take them out of the woods, a bright red spell suddenly shot out from a corner and hit Sherlock!
In an instant, Sherlock's wand, along with the over fifty wands he had gathered, were forcefully sent flying, scattering about three meters away from him!
An ugly goblin stumbled out from behind the bushes, pointing a finger at Sherlock and said viciously, "Don't move."
Sherlock calmly raised both his hands, performing a sign of surrender to indicate that he meant no harm. "I thought Harry had already dealt with you."
The goblin seemed to be in poor condition and walked to Jonathan, checking his condition.
At the same time, the goblin used a binding spell on Sherlock, tying him up with a magical rope he had transfigured earlier.
"You disgusting wizard!" The goblin continued his work while muttering.
"Based off your race's aesthetic, I would indeed belong to the repulsive." Sherlock shrugged and looked at the wands that had floated up behind the goblin, aiming at him.
He blinked, softly chanting a spell, "Petrificus Totalus."
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Editor: hey, it wasn't a month so don't complain
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