Accidents always happen when you least expect them, otherwise, they wouldn't be called accidents.
Walking out of the Leaky Cauldron, Rey looked up at the dazzling sun in the sky. Facing the wind, he felt the whole world become much clearer.
Magic, simply put, is like physical stamina. The more you use it, the more abundant it becomes after recovery. It's just that the total amount increases slowly, making it hard to notice.
The dragon race is a long-lived species. After exhausting their magic, they use the most primitive method—sleep—to recover.
It's like a growth process, magical and unique.
As long as they aren't killed in their sleep, a sleeping dragon's strength will increase by a level after waking up. Especially their control over the magic within their body and their control over physical transformation.
His senses became sharper, and his perception of the magic within him was more sensitive. As for the upper limit, without fully releasing it, he couldn't even guess.
He believed that, at the very least, he wouldn't feel his magic bottoming out after breathing fire for a while like last night.
There is no Knight Bus during the day. London has too many vehicles during the day, which is unfavorable for the Knight Bus's rapid travel. So, generally, the Knight Bus appears from nightfall to dawn.
Traveling to specific Muggle locations at noon, even wizards can only take Muggle transportation.
Walking to the street corner, Rey casually hailed a taxi to head to Willy Bruce's villa. Rey had originally intended to discuss the plan for building the organization in detail with him after his daughter recovered.
After all, only after his daughter recovered would Willy Bruce be in the mood to do things. But who would have thought Rey would sleep for two months?
It was time to finalize the plan. Time waits for no one. There was less than half a month left before the new school year at Hogwarts began.
Without knowing Apparition, once he returned to Hogwarts, he wouldn't have much time to come out.
---
West End of London, the wealthy area of Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Rey stood at the door of Willy Bruce's villa and rang the doorbell.
"Coming!"
A young girl's voice sounded. After a pause of a few seconds, the door finally opened. Presumably, the girl had confirmed who was outside through the peephole. Seeing Rey, a young boy, she opened the door.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?"
A girl with long blonde hair, about 1.7 meters tall, stood in front of Rey and asked.
She was indeed a beautiful girl, around twenty-two years old. Traces of unhealed bruises could still be seen on her face. Facing Rey, she remained vigilant, not opening the door completely.
"Hello, I'm Rey MacFusty. I'm looking for Mr. Willy Bruce."
"Dad, someone's looking for you."
The girl turned back and shouted, then opened the door fully, said "Please come in," and welcomed Rey inside.
Gesturing for Rey to sit on the sofa in the living room, the girl poured him a glass of water. At this time, the bald Willy Bruce walked out from a side door of the inner room.
"Hi, Mr. MacFusty. I didn't expect you to come today. I thought you had forgotten me."
Willy Bruce welcomed him warmly. After shaking hands, they sat opposite each other. Then he said to his daughter, "Tina, can you go to my room and get the blue folder from my bookshelf?"
"Okay, Dad." The girl named Tina agreed and turned to leave.
"Your daughter is very beautiful."
Rey smiled and said to Willy Bruce.
"Thank you, but... hearing such words from someone with your young appearance is really a bit hard to get used to," Willy Bruce replied with a wry smile.
Based on Rey's current appearance of sixteen or seventeen years old, this remark could be considered quite impolite. After all, a teenage boy praising a father's twenty-something daughter as beautiful right in front of him felt a bit off no matter how you looked at it.
If he encountered a father with a worse temper, Rey might have been kicked out directly.
"Sorry, I always forget my age."
Rey apologized. He and Willy Bruce were like good friends. He believed neither would take what was just said to heart.
The two chatted and laughed for a few sentences. After Tina brought the folder over, Willy Bruce sent his daughter away again with another excuse.
It seemed he didn't really want his daughter involved in the matters they were about to discuss.
---
Willy Bruce handed the folder to Rey. Inside were real estate information he had collected and resumes of some personnel who could be recruited into the organization.
Rey opened the folder; the first thing he saw was the real estate information.
Oxfordshire, a manor by the Thames.
This manor had its own dock, former orangery, and walled garden. There was also a gated driveway to stop uninvited guests. In addition to the main house, outbuildings, and boathouse, it also included 125 acres of land situated adjacent to the river, totaling 380 acres.
It used to be a recuperation center for the US Air Force. However, because no one had lived there for a long time, it needed extensive renovation. It was an hour by train from London, priced at 7 million pounds.
The price wasn't an issue for Rey; the issue was suitability.
After reading the text and photo information of the first property, Rey didn't make a decision but looked at the next one.
A manor near Lincoln's Inn Fields, covering 100 acres, with its own garden and a house area of 1,000 square meters. Price: 3.68 million pounds.
"This property is quite good, hidden in the city. Converting it into a combat base against dark creatures would allow for rapid response within London..."
As Rey flipped through the real estate information, Willy Bruce explained and added his own opinions.
Willy Bruce had put his heart into it; he collected a total of five properties. Rey looked at the two mentioned above.
The manor in Oxfordshire was secluded enough, and no one lived there now. Accessible by water and land, it was indeed very good as a training base. But the only drawback was that it was too far from central London, requiring an hour by train. Driving there was very roundabout and even more time-consuming.
The manor near Lincoln's Inn Fields had a smaller area, and the surroundings were all wealthy neighborhoods.
It was indeed somewhat lacking in terms of concealment, but as Willy Bruce said, it allowed for rapid response within London, making it a good place to strike from at any time. As long as it didn't cause a big commotion, it naturally shouldn't be a problem.
The two properties had their own merits; it depended on how Rey chose to plan.
After reading the real estate information, Rey said thoughtfully, "The manor by the Thames in Oxfordshire is suitable for conversion into a training base, while this manor in Lincoln's Inn Fields is suitable as a residence for the demon-hunting squad. Buy both places."
"Buy both!"
Willy Bruce was surprised by Rey's decision. After a moment of stun, he looked embarrassed and said with difficulty, "Um, with my financial resources, I can only buy the property in Lincoln's Inn Fields..."
"It's fine, I have money here. It's just all in cash."
Rey answered with a smile, then immediately joked, "It seems you'll have to find me a financial accountant to specifically manage the money in our organization."
---
Having money means being willful. Since both had irreplaceable advantages, just buy them all together.
The feeling of being rich was really great. At this moment, Rey finally experienced the mindset of the wealthy: when money can solve a problem, it is no longer a problem.
"Following are the resumes for instructor personnel, all retired veterans." After settling the real estate, Willy Bruce continued to introduce to Rey.
"Which one do you think is most suitable?"
Rey wasn't actually good at choosing instructors. After all, he was just an ordinary person in his previous life, so he directly asked for Willy Bruce's opinion. The other party used to be a soldier, so Rey believed he had unique insights.
"A total of three candidates. As long as the price is right for the first two, they can become hired instructors without asking reasons. The last one, Philip August, I think is the most suitable. He's from the SBS, rank of Colonel, 35 years old."
SBS, that's the Special Boat Service, the most formidable squad under the UK Special Forces, the Royal Marines. There are no connections here; promotion relies purely on strength.
Becoming a Colonel at 35, that's a considerably young field officer. The strength of this person goes without saying.
"Such a formidable officer, how did he retire?" Rey asked in confusion. Making Colonel at thirty-five meant a boundless future; why retire? It was indeed puzzling.
Hearing Rey's question, Willy Bruce sighed and said, "His wife was murdered, and his investigation into the killer was fruitless. He drank his sorrows away all day, so he retired.
"There's a briefing on his wife's murder a few years ago at the back of the file. The cause of death was bizarre; all the blood in her body was drained. Thinking about it now, it was very likely done by a vampire."
"Have you contacted him?"
"I contacted him once and vaguely mentioned that dark creatures might have killed his wife. He didn't show much rejection of this theory. However..." Willy Bruce paused halfway through his sentence.
"However what?"
"He saw at a glance that I wasn't the person in charge. To hire him, the person in charge must interview him directly." Willy Bruce spread his hands helplessly, indicating he had done his best and Rey had to go in person.