The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Scott accepted Lucio's invitation and decided to visit the Wizard Street in Spain.

Out of caution, Scott did not intend to reveal his home address, and the two eventually agreed to meet in front of the bar where they had met before.

On the appointed day, when Scott arrived at the bar in a taxi, he saw Lucio standing in front of a black sedan waving at him.

Good morning, Scott.

Good morning, Lucio, thank you for your invitation.

After getting in the car, Scott thanked Lucio first, then noticed something unusual—

The driver is not human.

“You noticed?” Lucio’s expression was somewhat proud. “This is my alchemical creation.”

He raised his chin and ordered the driver, "Juan, to Estruc Street."

"Yes, my master." The driver's voice was somewhat mechanical, but he then smoothly started the car.

A black sedan weaves through the bustling streets, and unless you look closely, no one would notice that the driver is not human.

"amazing."

Scott used his magical senses to explore Juan's structure and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

“You are even more talented than I imagined, Lucio.”

While he could create works of this caliber using Transfiguration, he lacked the skill to do alchemy.

"It's nothing special. Juan can only react mechanically to the environment and perform some mechanical movements. In short, he's not intelligent enough."

Although Lucio waved his hand in a show of modesty, he couldn't hide the smug smile on his face.

Scott's eyes flashed. "Looks like you've done your fair share of Muggle knowledge."

“I won’t let any knowledge that interests me slip by.” Lucio laughed. “The scientific conjectures and experiments of Muggle scientists about robots and artificial intelligence have given me a lot of inspiration.”

Scott didn't specifically inquire about Lucio's family background, but Lucio started talking about it himself, "I come from a Muggle family just like you. My parents are both university professors. Oh, and my mother is British."

Then he started talking about his cousin.

"Gavin Parter, do you remember him?"

Scott shook his head; he couldn't even remember the names of every Ravenclaw student, let alone Hufflepuff.

Lucio quickly steered the conversation back to alchemy.

Scott could tell that he had a genuine passion for alchemy.

“I once met the master Nicolas Flamel. When I was a first-year student, he came to Beauxbatons to give a class to all the students. Unfortunately, that was the only time. He has now passed away.”

"Is alchemy a required course in Beauxbatons?" Scott asked curiously.

“Alchemy is an elective course that starts in the third year.” Lucio shook his head. “You know, you need some basic knowledge to learn alchemy, and not every young wizard has a talent for it.”

As the two were talking, the vehicle drove out of the city of Madrid.

"Isn't the Spanish Wizard Street in Madrid?" Scott asked.

“Oh…” Lucio’s expression was somewhat subtle. “In Barcelona.”

Scott raised an eyebrow.

Everyone in the world knows that people from Madrid and Barcelona can't stand each other.

“There are more wizards gathered in Barcelona,” Lucio shrugged. “Perhaps because the Spanish royal family is in Madrid?”

Scott nodded, without mentioning that the British royal family and Wizarding Street are both in London, and that wizards and Muggle royalty have little to do with each other.

Lucio pursed his lips. "Well, I don't know why either, but there aren't many wizards in Spain. We don't even have our own magic schools. Most Spanish wizards are concentrated in Barcelona, ​​of course, I mean those with lineages."

Scott nodded again.

There are only three well-known magic schools in Europe, and he doesn't know where wizards from other countries go to school. He always thought there must be some lesser-known magic schools, but he didn't expect that Spain doesn't have any at all.

No wonder Lucio went to study in Beauspatton, France.

However, he now needs to consider another issue...

As far as he knew, Madrid was 600 kilometers from Barcelona, ​​which would take quite a long time to drive there.

Is it too late for him to get off the bus and go home now?

“Oh, I know what you’re thinking.” Lucio laughed. “Juan, speed up!”

"Okay, master."

Juan, who was driving, responded, and the car suddenly accelerated. Scott's back slammed heavily against the seat, and the scenery outside the window instantly became blurry.

“As an alchemist, how could I not try to modify my car?” Lucio raised his chin. “This is my result!”

Scott settled himself in, then raised an eyebrow. "In Britain, this kind of behavior would violate the Ministry of Magic's regulations and laws."

“Oh, it will happen in Spain too.” Lucio grinned. “But don’t worry, this car is now invisible and won’t be detected by any Muggles, and of course, it won’t be detected by the Spanish Ministry of Magic.”

"That's good." Scott smiled as well.

He thought to himself, "I never expected him to be such a daring guy."

However, he wasn't really concerned about breaking the law, and he was happy to spend less time on the road.

Although Lucio's modified car was not as fast as the British Knight Bus, it still allowed them to reach the outskirts of Barcelona in an hour.

The car then slowed down.

“Once we’re inside, we have to drive normally,” Lucio explained, blinking, “because we could be discovered by the wizards at any time.”

He began to show Scott the Wizard Street they were going to.

“Muggles also call Estruk Street Wizard Street because of a wizard named Estruk who used to offer fortune-telling and healing services there, and was therefore very famous in the area.”

Scott was somewhat surprised to hear this.

"You're thinking this violates the secrecy law, aren't you?"

Lucio laughed again.

"In fact, he is not a real wizard."

"He only used herbs to heal the Muggles and used all sorts of stones to tell their fortunes. The Muggles treated him like a real wizard and worshipped him madly."

"Later, all sorts of male and female 'wizards' gathered on this street, mostly Gypsies and Catalans. Of course, none of them were real wizards."

“This is a bit crazy,” Scott said. “But is the real Wizarding Street there too?”

“Yes, the streets where the wizards gathered have been there for a long time, much longer than Estruk was.” Lucio shrugged. “It might just be a coincidence, or there might be other reasons, who knows.”

Lucio also recounted many amusing anecdotes about Muggles worshipping another group of Muggles as if they were real wizards.

"Of course, the Muggle government in Barcelona knows that there are real wizards hiding there, and they have deliberately preserved the street's name and appearance."

The car stopped near Estrus Street, and Scott and Lucio got out and walked to this wizard street, which was also well-known among Muggles.

It's called a main street, but it's actually just an alleyway sandwiched between buildings, and even vehicles can't drive on it.

Perhaps due to the tall buildings on both sides blocking the sunlight, the entire street is dark and appears somewhat gloomy.

Stepping into this street is like entering another world.

It's summer now, the sun is blazing, and the ground is dry, but Wizard Street is surprisingly cool, even the ground is damp.

Lucio enthusiastically explained, "This street has always been this damp, and Muggles have all sorts of explanations for it."

"Some people believe it's because the ground moisture keeps rising to the surface, which is a natural phenomenon. Others believe it's because the streets are narrow and the buildings on both sides block the sunlight, making it difficult for the moisture to evaporate. Of course, some people also say it's the work of a shaman's witchcraft, and they firmly believe in it."

He smiled mysteriously, "Of course, that's not the real reason. You'll find out the real reason in a little while."

Scott nodded, then looked up and glanced around.

He noticed that the street signs on this street were designed in a very special way; all the fonts were crooked and twisted, resembling both a group of insects and the symbols of a wizard's spell.

“These texts are written in Catalan, which most people can’t understand,” Lucio said.

In addition, Scott discovered that the design of each house number was different, with each number made incomplete, which made it seem very mysterious.

The two walked along the wet street and finally arrived at the door of an old apartment building.

"This is it."

Lucio went in first, and Scott followed behind him.

In the apartment lobby, a balding apartment manager, who looked drowsy, raised his eyelids and glanced at them before letting them droop back down.

“This gentleman is a wizard from the Spanish Ministry of Magic, and he’s in charge of guarding this place,” Lucio whispered to Scott.

Scott looked away; he could, of course, sense the other person's identity as a wizard.

He followed Lucio past a row of elevators, turned a few corners, and arrived at the stairwell, then went down the stairs to the ground floor.

He looked at Lucio with a puzzled expression, and Lucio immediately gave an affirmative answer, "Yes, the real Wizard Street is underground."

As they spoke, the two arrived at a huge underground parking lot.

Although the area is very large, there is not a single car parked here.

The dim lights flickered weakly, the ground was covered with puddles of water, and rows of thick concrete pillars made the whole space look both empty and dilapidated and dark.

“This parking lot doesn’t belong to Muggles.” As Lucio spoke, an echo reverberated through the space. “That staircase was actually decorated with a Muggle-repelling charm. As for why it was decorated like a parking lot, I heard it was to prevent Muggles from accidentally wandering in.”

He strode forward, leading Scott around several corners.

Gradually, they heard voices.

Two women dressed as wizards emerged from behind a row of pillars, carrying several paper bags and chatting happily with each other.

"The price of the Bodhi stones is a bit lower today than last time..."

The two witches stopped immediately upon seeing Lucio and Scott, eyeing the two boys dressed in Muggle attire with wary looks.

Lucio was alright, dressed relatively simply, but Scott's outfit, designed by Emilia, was far too trendy and seemed out of place in this dark and damp underground parking lot.

"Muggle?"

“No, we are wizards, madam.”

Lucio said with a smile.

The two witches looked them up and down a few more times before leaving.