Chapter 121: The Delivery Mission
It rained last night.
A steady, continuous downpour, lasting a good two or three hours.
By the time the sun rose, the ground in Diagon Alley was still very damp, with green moss clinging to the corners of walls and between the bricks.
Wade pulled down his hood and walked along the street, his worn boots treading on the moss, leaving a trail of green footprints on the dark grey flagstones.
He currently looked like a middle-aged man, with gaunt cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, and a wizard's robe covered in patches, giving him a very disheveled appearance.
There weren't many customers in Diagon Alley at this time, nothing compared to Lockhart's book signing yesterday.
Some shop owners were directing brooms and rags to clean, and when they saw Wade pass by, they merely gave him a lazy glance, completely uninterested in greeting him.
A few children were running and playing in the street, and some had already been glued to the broomstick shop window since early morning, gazing longingly at the latest Nimbus 2001 inside.
Next to the broomstick shop was a small beverage shop called White Deer Drinks. A teenager was tidying shelves while calling out to the children:
"Be careful, don't run into anyone."
"Got it!"
The child responded loudly.
But agreeing was one thing; actually doing it was another.
With few people on the street, the children played with a bit more abandon.
One child was running forward while looking back and calling to a friend, and without realizing it, he bumped into a black-robed wizard by the side of the road.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
He quickly bowed his head to apologize. Before he could even look up, he felt his back collar grabbed by a hand like an eagle's talon.
"You bump into someone, and a quick apology is all you think it takes?"
Bony fingers squeezed his neck from behind, and the sinister voice sounded ill-intentioned.
Seeing this, the teenager from the drink shop rushed out:
"I'm sorry, this is my little brother. I apologize to you on his behalf... Uh, can I offer you a drink?"
He looked up at the wizard and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
The pale-faced wizard's eyes seemed to glow green, his cheekbones protruded, and a grotesque scar stretched across the corner of his mouth. A strange odor emanated from him.
He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, a chilling smile playing on his lips.
"I don't need free drinks."
He said in a hoarse voice, "If you want to show your apology, show some sincerity... How about you do me a small favor?"
The teenager's scalp tingled, but he didn't dare to retreat rashly. He swallowed and asked, "...What favor?"
"How about you deliver a letter for me?" the wizard asked, pulling out a thick letter.
The teenager glanced at it; the address on the envelope was nearby, and it wasn't a place like Knockturn Alley, which made people's blood run cold just hearing its name.
He hesitated, then looked at his brother, who was being held by the wizard and trying hard not to cry, and took the envelope with both hands.
"Okay, do you have any other instructions?"
The wizard's cold eyes swept over both of them, and he sneered:
"The recipient has a bad temper. If you bring your brother along, it might make him a bit more lenient with you."
Upon hearing this, the teenager actually breathed a sigh of relief.
If that was the case, it made sense that the wizard didn't want to deliver the letter himself.
"Also," the wizard released the teenager's brother and continued, "the moment you took this letter, you fell under my curse."
As the teenager's expression changed, he chuckled, "If you don't deliver the letter in time, I can't guarantee what will happen to you."
The teenager took a deep breath: "I'll deliver the letter on time."
"Good, I hope everything goes smoothly for you." The wizard cackled, then turned and walked away.
The teenager's lips were tightly pressed. He patted his brother's head with the hand not holding the letter and said, "I'm going to deliver the letter, you go home quickly."
"No, I'm coming with you!" his brother cried.
"It's just delivering a letter, there's no danger. I'll be back soon."
"No, I'm coming with you!"
The little boy didn't understand what had just happened, only that he had caused trouble for his brother, and he cried in fear.
Moreover, he firmly remembered what that person had said earlier—if he went with him, the recipient wouldn't get angry at his brother.
The teenager tried to persuade him for a while but to no avail. He had no choice but to leave a note on the counter, close the shop door, and walk with his brother towards the address on the letter.
If all goes well, I should be back in a few minutes.
He thought optimistically.
And his father had gone to Gringotts to withdraw money; he should be back soon. Seeing the note on the counter, he would surely come looking for them.
The young man walking away didn't see that the wizard quickly returned, pushed open the shop door, went inside, and then came out again a moment later, walking in the direction the young man had gone.
A middle-aged man resting on a bench by the roadside sighed, slowly stood up, and watched the direction the group had left in.
...
The young man held the envelope, comparing it to the numbers on the shop signs along the road, and gradually found himself in a secluded alley.
He walked around a full circle but still couldn't find the address on the letter.
"Brother..." The little boy gripped his hand tightly.
"What's wrong?" the young man asked.
"I'm a little scared..." the little boy said, his voice tearful.
The young man looked at the narrow alleyway and the tightly shut doors on either side, making a decisive turn. "Let's go back first and have Dad bring us to deliver the letter."
But they had only taken two steps when their bodies froze.
The wizard who had asked them to deliver the letter was standing at the mouth of the alley.
"Naughty children, not keeping your promise."
He spoke in a voice that sounded as if his throat had been scraped, "You want to go home before the letter has even been delivered."
The young man quickly drew his wand, shielding his brother behind him, and tried to explain, "I'm not breaking my promise, I just couldn't find the place."
The wizard walked towards them, saying, "I know the place, let me take you there."
"You can deliver it yourself!"
The little boy suddenly shouted, "We're going home! Dad is waiting for us!"
"No, he won't wait for you. He doesn't even know where you've gone."
The wizard threw a crumpled piece of paper at their feet. The young man looked down and saw his own handwriting on the paper.
It was the note he had left for his father.
He recoiled two steps as if scared, then his wand suddenly twitched. "*Stupefy!*"
A red beam of light shot towards the wizard. He hadn't expected this seemingly young child to know the Stunning Spell, and in his haste, he threw himself to the ground!
The spell grazed his hair and hit the wall.
"Run!"
The young man didn't realize his spell hadn't hit at all. He pulled his brother and ran, suddenly hearing a voice say, "*Petrificus Totalus!*"
The two immediately collapsed, their bodies stiff.
An elderly witch had appeared in front of them, slowly putting away her wand.
The witch let out a grating laugh, like glass scraping, and said, "Little cubs have sharp claws too, don't they?"
The wizard walked over from behind, wiping blood from his nose and muttering. He kicked the petrified young man, who rolled over once. He pointed his wand at the young man's heart and said coldly, "*Crucio!*"
"*Bang!*"
Amidst a loud bang, blood suddenly burst from the wizard's chest, and he was sent flying backward.
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