Lewis spent the entire afternoon wandering through Diagon Alley, but failed to uncover any further information about griffins.
These creatures had vanished for far too long. The last confirmed contact between humans and griffins dated back to 1927, with Newt Scamander.
Since he couldn't find answers from others, he would have to rely on himself.
That night, Lewis returned early to his room at the inn. He placed a censer on the floor, arranged four ivory ornaments around it, lit the incense, and began a magical ritual.
Honestly, he had to thank Muggle industrialization for this.
Materials like incense and ivory carvings would have cost at least three to four hundred gold coins in the wizarding world.
But thanks to modern industry, their price had dropped by at least tenfold.
What would normally require significant effort and expense to gather could now be bought in a single shopping trip for under a hundred pounds.
Legend Lore—a 4th-circle divination spell. It allows the caster to obtain information and stories about an important person, place, or object. The more you know about the target, the more detailed the information; otherwise, the result will be vague.
This was the spell Lewis had mastered before setting out, and it was the very reason he dared to search for such rare magical materials.
Without it, as a newcomer to the wizarding world, he might never find these obscure ingredients no matter how long he searched.
Besides Legend Lore, he had made extensive preparations for this independent journey.
For potential combat, he had learned several spells: the 1st-circle Petrification Curse, 2nd-circle Stunning Spell, 2nd-circle Expulsion Charm, along with utility cantrips like Reveal Spell, Unlocking Spell, and Excavation Spell.
On top of that, he had developed spells such as 1st-circle Grease Spell, 2nd-circle Mirror Image, 3rd-circle Suggestion, and 1st-circle Mage Armor.
He had also conveniently acquired a few healing potions from Potions class.
In short, he was fully prepared.
His wizard level had reached LV5, with slight improvements in magical power and resistance.
Even if his raw magic couldn't match that of adult wizards, with his unique spell arsenal and the metamagic ability Instant Casting, he could still hold his own—as long as he didn't run into elite Aurors or Death Eaters.
"Legend Lore… locate the griffin's beak!"
As the incense smoke fully enveloped the space before him, Lewis activated the ritual.
Out of caution, he didn't search for a griffin itself, but specifically for a griffin's beak.
After all, a detached beak would be far easier to find than a living griffin.
For all he knew, some old wizard might have a griffin skull passed down as a family heirloom.
For potion-making, what mattered was the magical essence and symbolic meaning of the material.
This was where magic diverged from science.
Magic wasn't purely about objective factors like energy manipulation or rule-based logic.
It also involved subjective elements—will, emotion, and symbolic meaning.
From a sociological perspective, symbols resembled memes—collective constructs born from human imagination.
For example, ravens symbolized the sun, so their feathers could be used in solar-aligned potions.
Grasshoppers represented jumping ability, so their hind legs could serve as materials for Jumping Spells.
This was also why ancient potion recipes contained bizarre ingredients like "the tongue of a liar" or "a witch's saliva."
Muggles might dismiss these as superstition.
But in the magical world, belief shaped reality.
If enough people believed in something, it gained power.
There were even worlds where fame, legend, and collective imagination could rewrite history itself—granting figures powers they never possessed in life, or even bringing fictional beings into reality.
Back to Lewis's task.
The reason griffin beak powder was required for the Permanent Eagle's Majesty Potion was simple—
Griffins symbolized majesty, pride, and charisma.
That was why so many royal families used them in their crests.
The other materials followed similar symbolic logic.
That was also why a fossilized griffin would suffice—
But a hippogriff would not.
As the ritual progressed, Lewis soon sank into a trance.
A vague image appeared in his mind.
It showed a man-made cave.
In front of it stood an arrangement of massive stones.
The formation was strange, with peculiar plants growing among them, forming intricate patterns.
At the center, one stone had a circular indentation, as if something had once been embedded there.
Around the stones stood several four-legged creatures.
They resembled chibi alpacas, with various coat colors and large, round eyes.
They were all staring at the stone formation—
Looking… somewhat foolish.
The vision ended there.
Lewis snapped out of his trance.
Half an hour had passed.
The incense had long burned out.
That was everything Legend Lore had revealed.
"So this is where the griffin beak is?"
He fell into deep thought.
"A man-made cave, a stone array, strange patterns, a circular slot… and those creatures… why does this feel familiar?"
"Wait… those animals… could they be Mooncalves?"
He had read about them in magical creature books.
Mooncalves were shy creatures that only emerged during the full moon.
They had smooth, pale gray skin, sometimes with patterns, long thin legs, flat feet, and large, bulging eyes.
Under moonlight, they stood on their hind legs and performed complex dances—believed to be part of their mating ritual.
These dances left intricate geometric patterns in fields, often baffling Muggles.
At that moment, Lewis realized why the scene felt so familiar.
He had been there before.
"That's the Moonstone Garden!"
In the game Hogwarts Legacy, he had once visited that location with Poppy, a Hufflepuff girl.
"Could the griffin I'm looking for be there?"
But the Moonstone Garden was far from London—
It was in Scotland, near Hogwarts, close to the South Sea bogs.
Ordinary means wouldn't get him there easily.
Fortunately, Lewis remembered the route.
Without hesitation, he grabbed his wand, tucked several healing potions into his robes, and rushed downstairs.
At the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the flames.
With a whoosh, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than his height.
Lewis stepped into the flames and called out:
"Irondale!"
In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the fire.
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