The witch, who looked ancient, reacted quickly.
She slapped herself, and a large cloud of dark smoke immediately billowed up, obscuring everything.
The teenager and the boy struggled to open their eyes, hearing only a crackling sound and spells whistling through the smoke.
After an unknown period, the smoke cleared, revealing a ragged-looking wizard holding a wand, slowly approaching.
As the black mist dispersed, it revealed the two people inside…
Or rather… one and a half people.
The wizard was tightly bound to the ground with ropes, his face swollen, his legs stuck together, unable to move.
His chest had been hit by a shattering spell, leaving it bloody. His body was also covered in scabies, pus-filled sores, and what looked like burn marks.
He couldn't make a sound, only his eyes darted around in terror.
The Petrificus Totalus spell on the teenager and the boy was lifted. He quickly covered his brother's eyes, not wanting him to look around.
Most of the grotesque witch had vanished… but her lower body remained on the ground.
"What happened to her?" he asked in horror.
"Splinched," the middle-aged wizard in grey robes, who had saved them, said slowly. "That's what happens when you're not focused enough during Apparition."
"Will she die?" the teenager asked, frowning.
"Who knows?" the grey-robed wizard said indifferently. "I've never splinched myself."
The teenager's pupils constricted sharply when he saw the wand in the wizard's hand.
The grey-robed wizard pulled out a bottle of Potions and poured it all into the wizard's mouth.
The teenager stammered, trying to dissuade him, "That… killing is illegal?"
"Killing?" The grey-robed wizard rolled his eyes at him impatiently. "What are you thinking? This is Draught of Living Death."
"Oh…" The teenager awkwardly scratched his face, completely relaxing.
Draught of Living Death, also known as Living Hell Potion, despite its name containing "death" and "hell," is actually just a very potent sleeping draught.
"Come on, I'll take you away."
The grey-robed wizard picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the ground and handed it to the teenager, saying, "Also, there was no curse on that letter. You were tricked."
"Thank you for saving us."
The little boy suddenly pulled his brother's hand away and looked at the man, saying,
"I'm Lyte from the Mancini Family, and my brother's name is Theo… What's your name?"
"You can call me Werner."
The grey-robed wizard said calmly, while Theo watched him silently from beside him.
"Is something wrong?" Werner asked him.
Theo looked back and asked, "Are you just going to leave those two?"
"Of course not," Werner said. "Who are they? Why were they targeting you brothers? Do they have accomplices?"
"All of this needs to be investigated… but my help ends here."
At the mouth of the alley, he stopped and looked at Theo, saying,
"Go find your parents or elders and tell them about this. Whether to report it to the Aurors or investigate it yourselves, that's your business."
Theo was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand… What about you?"
"Look at the state of those two. Can I just leave them alone?"
The wizard waved his hand and said, "You two hurry. I'll stay here and guard them until the people you're looking for arrive."
"Okay."
Theo glanced at him, nodded, and quickly pulled his brother towards the drink shop.
His father, John Mancini, had already returned and was standing at the shop entrance, peering outside.
Seeing his two children running towards him, he immediately said angrily, "Didn't I tell you two to stay in the shop? Why are you running around with your brother?"
Theo quickly recounted what had happened.
John Mancini's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened. Even with his two children standing in front of him, he felt waves of lingering fear.
It was only when he heard that the two had been rescued that he relaxed somewhat.
Upon hearing that a suspected Dark Wizard had also been left behind, his expression changed again.
After hearing the entire account, he glared fiercely at his son. "Go home and stay there, don't go out! I'll deal with both of you later!"
Theo's face stiffened.
Then John pointed his wand at a notepad near the counter, and several sheets of paper flew out, automatically folding into a simple paper airplane that zipped away.
Soon after, six or seven wizards and witches emerged from other shops.
As a Pure-blood family, the Mancinis weren't as sprawling as the Weasleys, but they still had a good number of relatives and friends.
Besides his father, John, who owned a shop in Diagon Alley, his uncle Jason also had a magical supplies store there. Other relatives, like his aunt and cousin, also worked in Diagon Alley.
When John Mancini explained what had happened, everyone was furious and quickly rushed towards that alley.
Only Theo's cousin stayed behind, watching over the two children to keep them out of danger.
Theo, pretending to be well-behaved, pulled his younger brother back and whispered in his ear, "Lyte, I need to go out for a bit. Can you distract our cousin?"
"Leave it to me!" Lyte said confidently. "Mission accomplished, guaranteed!"
Right after, he let out an earth-shattering wail: "Waaah, waaah, waaah..."
"What's wrong?" Theo's cousin was startled and hurried over to comfort him.
"It was so scary!" Lyte cried, tugging at her sleeve. "We almost got caught by bad guys... boo hoo hoo..."
"Weren't you fearless just now?" his cousin said helplessly. "Don't cry anymore. How about I do some magic for you...?"
While she was frantically trying to soothe the child, Theo quietly slipped out of the shop.
He quickly ran to the alley but didn't see Werner. He only saw that the wizard had already been given the Draught of Living Death antidote by his father and had woken up.
"Veritaserum, three drops are enough." Uncle Jason took out a small bottle. "It wasn't easy for me to get this, don't waste it."
John pried open the wizard's mouth and poured three drops of the clear liquid inside.
The wizard's struggles immediately ceased. He stared blankly at the sky, answering whatever he was asked.
"Who are you?" John asked.
"I am Chad Brick, and I'm a..." His eyelids fluttered, and he whispered, "Werewolf."
The expressions on the faces of the Mancini family members instantly changed.
During the war, children in the Wizarding World were often abducted by Werewolves and then infected themselves.
They were raised to fear and hate wizards, growing up to become part of Werewolf armies that attacked wizards under Fenrir Greyback.
Some children, after being bitten, were left with their parents, and from then on, they would transform into Werewolves every month, indiscriminately attacking everyone around them.
This was undoubtedly a devastating disaster for a family.
If the Mancini brothers had been taken by this Werewolf, the outcome would have been almost self-evident.
But in recent years, such incidents had clearly become rare.
John took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and asked, "Then why did you target those two children? Do you have a grudge against our Mancini family?"
"No," Chad Brick said in a monotone voice. "I was in a bad mood, and they just happened to bump into me, and their parents weren't around..."
"You bastard!" John punched out, but his brothers caught his arm.
"Who was that old witch? Do you have any other accomplices?" Jason asked, relatively calmer.
"She called herself Ursula. I met her in Knockturn Alley." Chad Brick said, "I don't have any accomplices. She likes children's eyes and fingernails. When she saw I had taken those two children, she wanted a share of the spoils..."
"Filthy animal!" John Mancini couldn't help but curse.
Theo didn't listen anymore. He recalled Werner's initial direction and his attire, and suddenly something clicked.
There was a street in Diagon Alley entirely dedicated to selling second-hand goods.
Wizards with no money often browsed for treasures there, occasionally buying something worthwhile, but most of the time, they were just picking out the least terrible items from the rubbish.
Theo quickly ran over and, sure enough, saw the back of the grey-robed wizard from a distance. He was bending down, examining a pile of miscellaneous goods the shop owner had displayed outside.
Theo ran up, then suddenly wasn't sure what to call him. "Um... Mr. Werner..."
"After going through something like that, you're running around again." Werner turned around and reprimanded him, "Are you really that careless about your own safety?"
Theo suddenly didn't feel like pretending anymore. He narrowed his eyes and said, "So are you going to kidnap me too, esteemed Mr. Werner? Or rather..."
His lips moved slightly, silently mouthing:
...Wade.
Wade raised an eyebrow but didn't deny it. He looked down at his attire and asked, "Where's the flaw now?"
Theo pointed to his sleeve and whispered, "I recognize your wand."
Wade sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do about that, because I haven't bought my second one yet."
Theo realized that what Wade had been looking at earlier were several old wands the shop owner had placed in a wooden bucket, some of them with their cores exposed.
"There's nothing good here," Theo said. "Come with me, I know where to buy reliable second-hand wands."
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