The tunnel was only about a meter wide and two meters high, and it was so dark that nothing could be seen. It was likely that Burke had set up a protection charm.
It was only then that Ivan took out a shriveled and gnarled hand from the pocket of his wizarding robes, lit a candle, and placed it on the shriveled hand.
The dim candlelight faintly illuminates the way ahead…
When he was done, Ivan couldn't shake the feeling that he was performing some sort of evil ritual.
Although this magical object was called the Hand of Glory, its usage, appearance, and method of production were not honorable at all.
It is rumoured that to make a Hand of Glory, one must cut off the hand of the hanged person, wrap it in Mandrake or some other herb, and soak it in water, so that only the person holding it can see the light of the lamp.
Prepared, Ivan did not simply enter. Instead, he waved his wand and used a Levitation Charm to levitate the Hand of Glory into the dim passageway.
Ivan waited for a while, but nothing happened. He then used a Transfiguration Charm to create a few animals to test the waters, and when he was satisfied, he went inside.
Burke had drunk the Veritaserum in front of him and revealed a lot of secrets and the dangers of entering the library, but this did not mean that he was completely at ease.
What if Burke hadn't fallen for the trick, deliberately telling the truth to confuse him, and then lying about the triggering conditions? He would be in danger…
Ivan thought it best to be cautious!
As they entered the dark passageway, the candle's bright flame dimmed a little, so that it could only light up a meter or two around Ivan. Beyond that, there was nothing but black mist.
After some time, Ivan found himself in a larger space, with rows of black bookshelves.
There were signs on the front of the shelves that read Ancient Books, Dark Arts, Potions, and Alchemy.
The floor was made of dark red brick, and there were strange patterns on the brick, which Ivan thought were probably runes used to detect or start a fire.
With that in mind, Ivan walked around the library with his Hand of Glory raised.
The library was a far cry from the Hogwarts library in size and volume, but every book in it was a high-end one, and the further back one went, the fewer books there were, and the more precious they seemed.
Some of them, Ivan felt, might not even be found in the Restricted Section at Hogwarts, most likely inherited knowledge.
Ivan soon reached the end of the library and was about to return when he noticed a golden box on the desk.
Ivan carefully opened it and was surprised to find a parchment-like object inside.
"This is the deed to Borgin and Burkes Magical Store?!"
Yvonne had not expected to find such a thing in the library.
After thinking about it for a while, Ivan decided to put the deed away. Douggart had told him that the wizarding shop was under a lot of scrutiny, but it might come in handy later.
Ivan then took out a suitcase that had been extended with an Extension Charm and prepared to take all the books with him.
However, due to the sheer amount of books in the library, Ivan had no choice but to give up on the idea of taking all of them with him, opting instead to take the more valuable books on the shelves behind him.
The rest would be left there for later shipment to be placed in the basement of his shop.
By the time the shelves had been emptied, the candles in the Hand of Glory were burning out, and Ivan did not dare to linger. He dragged the suitcase with him and managed to get out of the Chamber before the candles burned out.
Pulling out the locket that served as the key, Ivan watched as the open wall slowly closed, then glanced at the Hand of Glory and marveled at how Borgin and Burkes was indeed a magical shop that had been around for centuries.
The repository of secret knowledge was heavily guarded, and a magical object was specially created for everyday use, a luxury that no magical shop in Ethiopia could match.
However, that might not be the case in the future. Ivan felt that once he mastered this knowledge of alchemy, he might be able to try and make his family's magical shop into an impregnable fortress, lest something similar happen in the future.
After returning home with the books, Ivan briefly explained to Alicia what he had learned from his trip, and soon became absorbed in his studies.
A large amount of new alchemy knowledge caused many of the untouched alchemy proficiency points in the status bar to slowly increase.
[Ding, after a period of study, your Alchemy proficiency has increased. Current level: 5 (2867/8000)]
A few days later, Yvonne put down her copy of Advanced Magic Row and rubbed her throbbing head.
Ivan had to admit that the quality of the books in Borgin and Burkes was very high. If he understood all of them, he felt that he might be able to advance to Level 6 in alchemy.
In other words, it would not be long before he became the richest and longest-lived wizard in the wizarding world!
However, these esoteric books were very difficult to understand. Although Ivan could understand them with his current level of alchemy, such learning efficiency was too slow for him!
It would take at least a few years to master all of these books, and he had used up most of his GPA a few months ago while researching potions.
The reason Ivan was able to learn Alchemy so quickly was not only because he was using GPA to cheat, but also because of Isiah's willingness to teach him everything he knew about making magical objects.
Ivan shook his head, marveling at the fact that he did not have such a dedicated teacher.
Wait… it's not as if there isn't…
Ivan suddenly remembered Burke, who was still locked up. Burke was supposed to have knowledge of this subject, and Ivan wasn't worried about Burke refusing to answer his questions with the help of Veritaserum. Ivan wondered if Burke had starved to death.
He recalled that Burke had been quite stubborn when he left a few days ago. It seemed he was planning to starve to death.
Due to his concentration on learning about alchemy, Ivan had not been able to find out about Burke's current situation. He had only instructed Walker to send some food over every day, but he did not know if Burke ate it.
With that in mind, Ivan grabbed a few books and headed for the room where Burke was being held.