Words: 2,157

[3rd POV]

Hermione Granger: Harry will still be the champion... Professor Dumbledore said that a contract had already been signed with the Cup, and he simply could not intervene.

Rias Gremory: And how will you help him?

Hermione Granger: We will prepare for the first task. After discovering my aura, I began to learn all spells easily almost from the first attempts, even over the past few years. So we'll practice together.

Hermione Granger: The Headmaster also offered Harry a choice with the worst results. That is to participate but not try to win and give up immediately... but Harry didn't like that.

"Granger, if you don't mind, can you answer my few questions?"

Dumbledore asked kindly pulling Hermione out of the chat.

"Of course."

Hermione said confidently while nodding and feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Minerva, I mean Professor McGonagall, of course."

Dumbledore's glasses sparkled as he smiled even winking that brought a smile to Hermione's face, and he continued.

"She informed me about your words regarding the vision. Do you understand that this is very serious? Do you want a Sherbet lemon?"

"No thanks"

Hermione refused.

"Oh, but it's a delicious treat."

Dumbledore put the sherbet lemon in his mouth.

"Yes, I understand, and my v... visions have been confirmed so far. I knew Harry would be chosen as a champion and that Professor Moody was actually the Death Eater. I tried to tell Professor McGonagall..."

"But she complained that you're imagining things."

Dumbledore sighed sadly.

"Hermione, you're a smart girl, and you must understand that the professor didn't ignore your words out of grudge, but simply because she thought your imagination was running wild or that you were overworking... tell me, how many books did you read during the holidays?"

Dumledore's glasses sparkled, and Hermione was slightly embarrassed by a question.

Hearing those words from the Headmaster himself was still...unexpected.

"Twenty-four books... but I was just busy during the holidays! My parents and I went to France, and I didn't have time!"

Hermione immediately tried to justify herself, and Dumbledore laughed.

"France, huh? That's a beautiful place for a vacation."

Dumbledore clearly had pleasant memories. -

"But let's not dwell on that. Can you tell me what else you saw in your... vision."

"Do you believe me?"

"Of course, dear. Visions and divinations are very subtle magical disciplines that require a lot of different combined actions. However, sometimes they can occur voluntarily, but still possible."

Dumbledore said with authority.

"So I wouldn't mind hearing what you saw..."

...

[Anthony POV]

"This is the second police car with lights on."

Lena said this while standing by the room window and looking down at the road.

"This is Gotham."

I found something to say.

"You know, if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have come here alone."

Lena admitted and hugged me while approaching me and pressed her face to my chest.

"I'd rather have gone somewhere to the Dominican Republic or somewhere else... to California."

"But you were very excited about the trip."

"It was my first flight and trip out of the city, so of course, I was excited. "

Lena playfully tapped me on the shoulder.

"How do people even live here? Just a couple of months ago, that crazy clown appeared, and there are plenty of other criminals here too."

"Gotham still remains a major economic center of the United States."

I shrugged.

"We have a flying guy who can drop a car on your head, so it's a matter of habit."

"Fair enough."

We spent the night together while cuddling on one bed.

I checked chat in the morning and saw nothing important was happening, so I decided to take a walk to some other hidden landmarks. 

Lena was still asleep while hugging a pillow, so I cast some spells on the room and went out into the street.

"Hm."

I sighed deeply.

"Gotham... Cortana, did you find what I asked for?"

I asked aloud.

"Yes, the files on all the criminals were easy to find in the GCPD's database, but I suppose most of them have not yet been digitalized."

"What about our clownfriend?"

 I asked another question as I passed by an elderly couple in a not-so-safe neighborhood.

"Batman's systems were securely protected, I would even say very reliably for today. There were three traps under the servers, so if someone hacked the first line and managed to get into the network, Batman would immediately know about it. The second defense is even more complicated, and it's not easy to detect. The third one also has a catch... it took me a whole four seconds."

"I'm so glad you're with me."

 I said sincerely.

"Master Luthor, are you still planning to follow Project Earth? Especially the plan to create an organization of extraordinary and powerful individuals?"

Cortana asked.

"Perhaps. I just realized how many different threats exist in this world. I don't want the only one jumping from place to place. I only want to go if the situation is truly dangerous, like an attack by godlike beings and so on down the list."

I walked past some drug addict and entered an alley, where he followed me and came back out with a new fresh on his life.

Then, I teleported to the roof of a building.

I quickly changed my clothes, covered my face with the help of alchemy, and added Muggle-Repelling Charm.

I considered wearing nano suits, but my skin with aura is the best protection available to me. If I had better materials, I could make something that really protects me, but that's something for the future.

At the moment, I wasn't planning on committing a genocide of criminals. I'm not even sure I could succeed just for a reason.

A magician practicing alchemy for six hundred years sees the world very differently than the ordinary person.

There was a small amount of Albedo's experience that affected me, but it was enough to help me take the first step and kill Lex.

But to go and kill people left and right...

I fully understand that it needs to be done at least to people like the Joker or even Lex.

But to personally kill thousands of people... would I not become an even bigger monster?

However, there would be criminals who deserve it...

"Alright, let's go."

I jumped to another roof and went to the Iceberg Lounge with Cortana's help.

Penguin or Oswald Cobblepot owned this club and where he covered his dealings.

Moreover, this club has a good reputation among all sorts of scum and criminals even Batman has visited a couple of times.

This nightclub also serves as an elite casino, and Penguin receives a lot of income from this work.

So that he had enough money to hire various infamous criminals to guard his club.

At the moment, it was morning, so the club was closed... which worked in my favor.

"Damn criminals... ahem, I mean, I need to prepare for the guests."

A short, fat man with a hat on his head. He was sitting at the table in his office irritably grumbling something under his breath.

"He's becoming fatter these days."

I said standing next to him, but he ignored my words.

"If he keeps smoking like that, he won't last five years."

I noticed he had a developing illness... but I didn't care about him.

I cleared my throat and canceled the Muggle-Repelling Charm.

"Bloody hell... ahem, how can I help you?"

Penguin immediately smiled, but his eyes darted around while he was looking for something.

"With your connection."

"Ezeerf"

I said, and he froze in place.

"W-what's happening? W-who are you? What did I do to you? Maybe we can make a deal?"

He realized that things were getting serious.

"We'll make a deal, trust me."

I nodded to him and immediately used magic.

Surprisingly, it was easy, and now he would share all valuable information if someone told him the code word Cortana chose.

In addition, I created several high-tech cameras in the club by alchemy and concealed them with magic.

"Access granted."

 Cortana confirmed and connected to the cameras.

"Alright..."

I nodded and teleported back to the rooftop of the building. Everything becomes much easier with magic. I was about to head to Lena, but...

"There's a robbery happening at the nearby museum."

Cortana's voice sounded in.

"And how does that concern me?"

 I asked slightly frowning.

"Magic."

I could almost feel Cortana smiling.

"A man appeared with a wand, and he used it to vaporize the protective glass of one of the exhibits."

"You have a way with words."

I said while getting ready.

I already had a rough idea of what today's magician could do.

If they didn't have significantly more magical power and stronger will, they wouldn't be a match for me... at least, I hoped so.

But either way, I always have a "Plan B" for escape. If I stay out of trouble, I will become afraid of everything.

The Gotham Museum of Antiquities was located in the city center, and as soon as I arrived, I could sense magic. And I also saw a familiar girl...

"Do not interfere with me!"

The man shouted with the magic wand in his hand and a crazy expression on his face.

"I don't give a damn about you, just don't touch the book."

Zatana replied to the one who had tried to stop me from teleporting.

Their fight was happening right in the museum in front of an ancient exhibit that looked like an old book.

"A witch like you is far from the skills of a noble magician from the future."

He snorted and flicked his wand, causing the ground beneath Zatana's feet to crack.

"Who did you call a witch? Have you seen yourself?"

Zatanna got "a little" angry at his words.

"Pots!"

Zatanna shouted, and the man froze.

She did the same thing I had done with the Penguin recently just using a different word.

But this magician muttered something, and flames started to engulf Zatanna. However, she managed to avoid it using magic.

"The Great Abra Kadabra will get what he wants one way or another... huh."

"Hmm."

I shook my head while watching the fight happen.

Then, I created a small earth that hit the Abra Kadabra on the head to knock him out.

"No defense at all..."

I commented.

"Who are you... wait, you're that magician who dumped me in Metropolis!"

Zatanna pointed at me.

"Dumped? I actually helped you deal with the demon. You demon worshiper."

I replied while approaching the unconscious Abra Kadabra.

"I'm not a demon worshiper! I just made a mistake... yeah."

 

Zatanna awkwardly explained.

"Obviously."

I said putting my hand on the Abra Kadabra's head and checking into his recent memories.

"What are you doing?"

Zatanna asked.

"I'm checking his recent memories. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Same as him, apparently."

Zatanna approached the old book, picked it up, opened it, and... sighed heavily as she put it back.

"Useless..."

"Hmm."

I stood up after scanning through some of his memories.

"There really are a lot of demon worshipers..."

"Did you see anything?"

Zatanna sounded with curiosity.

"He made a deal with Neron to gain magical power, but in exchange, he had to bring mystical books."

I said while thinking about what to do with this... person. He didn't possess any valuable knowledge for me.

"Just another desperate soul willing to do anything to become a bit stronger."

Zatanna remarked casually while staring straight at me.

"Pots."

Zatanna said apparently deciding to see what would happen.

I felt someone trying to influence me magically, but the sensation quickly faded as Zatanna's attempt failed.

"What were you doing?"

I asked.

"Just checking..."

Zatanna said thoughtfully while confirming something to herself.

"Do you need the book?:

"Not sure."

I shrugged and then approached the book. There was nothing interesting about it as if it were just a copy.

"No, I don't need it. Alright, I'll finish the job..."

I approached Abra Kadabra while drawing my sword and pierced his head, then used alchemy to simply vaporize the body.

This was my second killing, but this time it was done by my own hand and without magic.

Abra Kadabra was from a distant future and immediately hypnotized several people to live comfortably.

However, that wasn't enough for him, and he wanted to become even stronger.

He knew about magicians and their abilities in this world, but apparently not all of them.

He turned to dark sorcerers and managed to perform a demon-summoning ritual none other than Neron also known as the "Ruler of Hell."

It was unbelievable that someone like Abra trusted him, so I was relieved to get rid of such a fool.

"Was that necessary? Well, never mind... I'll erase the guard's memory."

Zatanna waved her hand.

"Don't go anywhere!"

Zatanna shouted as a parting remark.

...

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