Arriving at the underground garage, Harvey saw Steve bound to the lab bench, his face as white as paper, looking incredibly weak as if he were on death's door.
"Rennervate!"
Harvey cast the Reviving Spell, returning a slight flush of color to Steve's face.
"Water..."
"So much trouble. Aguamenti!"
A stream of clear water appeared out of nowhere, continuously pouring into Steve's cracked, dry lips.
"Gulp, gulp~"
After drinking his fill, Steve felt his weakened body recovering rapidly. He pushed hard, trying to break free from his restraints, only to find himself tightly bound to the lab bench by Devil's Snare.
Helpless, he could only give up his struggle. Staring at the dim ceiling, he asked, "What exactly do you want before you'll let me go?"
Harvey thought about it. His research on the physique-enhancing potion had hit a bottleneck.
And he had already collected more than enough experimental samples; Steve was of little use to him now.
Keeping him around meant wasting effort taking care of him, so he wouldn't starve or die of thirst.
Therefore, Harvey decided to let him go.
"Obliviate!"
Steve's eyes filled with a blank, confused stare.
Harvey opened a portal, cleanly casting a Levitation Charm to toss the man right through it.
Afterwards, the portal vanished.
"No one left to bother me. Better hurry up and get to work."
That batch of healing potions for Kamar-Taj, based on his own brewing speed, would take at least two months to fully complete.
Time is Galleons!
He walked briskly over to the lab bench.
Harvey skillfully followed the recipe for the Blood-Replenishing Potion, picking up ingredients one by one from the adjacent prep table and tossing them into the pewter cauldron.
He began brewing and stirring continuously...
This batch of potions included twenty bottles of Blood-Replenishing Potion, twenty bottles of Skele-Gro, three bottles of Awakening Concoction, ten bottles of Blood-Clotting Potion, and thirty bottles of Invigoration Draught.
Harvey spent eight hours a day brewing potions. In his free time, besides eating, he instructed Wanda on how to control her Chaos Magic.
After three busy months, he finally finished brewing all the healing potions.
In early August, on a blisteringly hot afternoon.
After Harvey delivered the newly completed healing potions to Kamar-Taj, he returned to find Hermione blocking his path in the living room, questioning him with an irritable expression:
"Exactly when are you going to let me return to Hogwarts?"
"I know you're anxious, but hold your horses." Harvey began to explain earnestly.
"I am currently searching for a way to heal Professor Dumbledore's injuries. If he doesn't receive timely treatment, I'm afraid he's going to reach the end of his life prematurely."
"Professor Dumbledore is injured?" Hermione's eyes were full of suspicion.
Harvey patiently explained how Dumbledore suffered a magical backlash from Voldemort's Horcrux.
Over these three months, he would return to Hogwarts every week to monitor Dumbledore's condition.
He wanted to make sure the white-bearded old man didn't just kick the bucket before he could find a cure.
Fortunately, Dumbledore's injuries remained relatively stable, but the time left for Harvey was running out.
He estimated that the white-bearded old man could hold out for a maximum of two more months. He had to find a cure and return to Hogwarts before then.
After hearing about how Dumbledore was injured, Hermione's face was etched with worry:
"Soul trauma is an incurable injury. Are you able to find a way to heal Professor Dumbledore?"
"I've found half a solution." Harvey pulled the Wand of Watoomb out of the Undetectable Extension pouch in his pocket.
"This wand is a magical artifact belonging to an ancient Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj. It has miraculous effects in healing soul trauma, but relying on just one treatment method isn't safe enough."
He turned to look out the window toward the southeast, continuing:
"This world contains another holy healing relic, and that is the skeletal remains of a divine dragon. It possesses life-extending and powerful healing properties."
"I want to use a two-pronged approach, just to be absolutely safe."
Since it concerned Headmaster Dumbledore's life, Hermione, who held deep affection for Hogwarts, couldn't wait. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find the dragon bone right now!"
Seeing the normally calm little witch so anxious that she was tugging at his clothes to hurry him up, Harvey slowly shook his head and said unhurriedly:
"The dragon bone is a sacred relic of K'un-Lun. Many factions have their eyes glued to this treasure. If we strike rashly, we are very likely to become everyone's target."
In order to extend Professor Dumbledore's life, Hermione's eyes filled with murderous intent, her tone resolute:
"No matter who it is, they cannot stop us. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind testing out what I've learned about the Dark Arts."
Seeing Hermione displaying this rare, murderous look, Harvey was quite amazed.
"Miss Know-It-All, you've never actually killed anyone before, right? Are you willing to break your moral bottom line just because it concerns someone important to you?"
Hermione, wearing light green wizard robes, drew her wand and adopted a combat-ready stance.
"Cut the crap. Don't you always say that bottom lines are meant to be broken?"
"Oh really?" Harvey raised an eyebrow, finding this highly amusing. Opening a portal to Hell's Kitchen in New York, he gave a slight bow and jokingly invited her:
"Respected Dark Witch, are you prepared to listen to the souls of your enemies howling in agony in hell?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and said in a bad mood, "Right now, I want to send you to hell first!"
With that, she stepped through the portal first.
Harvey followed her with a smile.
The two arrived on the streets of Hell's Kitchen.
In the midsummer afternoon, waves of scorching heat hit their faces.
In this kind of sweltering weather, even the gang bangers of Hell's Kitchen didn't want to come out to loot and riot.
Hermione was still wearing her heavy wizard robes, and the vicious sun baked her until sweat continuously beaded on her forehead.
The magically enchanted estate was always warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Suddenly stepping outside, both of them felt incredibly unadjusted to the climate.
"My god, it's so fucking hot. Let's find the dragon bone and go back early. This weather is literally going to roast us alive!"
Hermione's face was burning up from the heat, and she hurriedly took tissues from her pocket to wipe her sweat.
Harvey pulled out his smartphone, opening Google Maps satellite view to cross-reference the address in his memory.
"East 14th Street by the Rand Building... The Philoste Apartment should be over here. Follow me."
The buildings along the street were haphazard and chaotic.
There was an old pizza shop with wobbly double glass doors, a grocery store with goods piled high at the entrance, and low-rise apartment buildings with peeling exterior paint.
Harvey led Hermione into a small alleyway, where the putrid stench of rotting food and garbage immediately hit their faces.
A black guy wearing a filthy white shirt and torn jeans was curled up, sleeping on some cardboard in a dark corner of the alley.
Judging by the scattered syringes on the ground next to him, Harvey figured this guy got high as a kite last night.
Covering her nose, Hermione waved her wand and cast a Breeze Charm.
A strong gust of wind swirled continuously, driving the foul odors deep into the alley.
"Are you sure the dragon bone is in a place like this?" Hermione frowned as she looked at the desolate alley.
Trash and debris were piled up randomly in the alley. Black garbage bags had been chewed full of holes by rats, and foul water leaked out from the tears.
A few emaciated stray cats were rummaging through the trash piles for food, plus the high-as-a-kite junkie.
No matter how you looked at it, this didn't seem like a place hiding a treasure.