Chapter 1148: A Deadly Ambush
Chapter 1148: A Deadly Ambush
Mr. Tolle no longer had the leisure to worry about his son. He pulled down his hood to conceal his face and, finding an opportunity, blended into the crowd.
As he listened to the brief remarks of the masked man in front, a pleasant curve appeared at the corner of Mr. Tolle's mouth.
Anyone would find it unbearable to just stare at such a large cake without being able to take a bite.
However, he believed that if they robbed the store and burned it down before leaving, the devastating loss would prevent those kids from ever getting back on their feet.
Without their biggest obstacle, life would be much easier from then on.
The stolen goods could be sold on Knockturn Alley, and they might even make a small profit. As for the blame, it would naturally fall on Death Eaters' retaliatory attacks.
In fact, most wizards living in the gray areas, willing to join or become Voldemort's minions, simply wanted some benefits and a chance to turn their lives around.
If possible, no one would choose to live in a place like Knockturn Alley.
Once the number of participants increased, their movements could not be concealed.
Along the way, when people heard that they planned to rob a specialty store, many voluntarily joined, and the group quickly swelled to nearly sixty people. The formidable force scared the shops on Diagon Alley, and they hastily closed their doors and windows, afraid of attracting trouble.
Diagon Alley was not that big, and it didn't take long to get from Knockturn Alley to number 93.
The masked man in the lead waved his wand and rudely blasted open the doors of shops number 93 and 94. He shouted to the hooligans behind him, "We don't have much time. Grab what you can and leave. Don't give the Ministry of Magic any time to react. Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Just as the hooligans were about to rush into the Dark Magic Defense specialty shop that had been blasted open, ready to carry out the robbery, fireworks suddenly exploded in the sky above Diagon Alley, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
Mr. Tolle's heart was suddenly filled with unease. However, before they could recover from the sudden change, a thick fog rolled in and completely engulfed the hooligans attempting the robbery, the cold mist chilling them to the bone.
This unexpected series of events threw the opportunists, who had hoped to make a quick fortune, into complete disarray. Anyone with a clear head could guess that this was a trap set specifically for them.
Over a month ago, the Ministry of Magic had used a similar strategy to capture hundreds of Dark Wizards in one fell swoop, and now they seemed to be trying the same trick again?
At this moment, everyone was cursing the organizer's family in their minds. Anyone with a clear head would immediately use Disillusionment to leave this troubled spot, including the masked man in the lead.
Having narrowly escaped the wedding trap the last time, the masked man was now so frightened by the similar scene that he fled in a panic.
He had no choice. Scrimgeour had been too ruthless, and he dared not gamble with his life.
However, most of the others were not so lucky.
The sudden drop in temperature, combined with the effects of the Stunning Spell, slowed the reaction of some wizards. A few of the quicker ones had already cast protective spells on themselves to shield against the Stunning Spells raining down from above.
As for those inexperienced individuals, some had already fallen victim to this sudden ambush.
"What a bunch of idiots," Lee Jordan scoffed, turning up his nose in disdain. He had expected Albert to display his might like he had against the Aurors, single-handedly taking down everyone.
Who would have thought it would end like this?
Such a large group of people, taken down by a single Stunning Spell?
"They're just scared," Albert explained, understanding the reason for the panic below. "They probably think they've walked into an ambush by the Ministry of Magic."
The group exchanged glances, surprised that things had taken such a turn.
If it had been a direct confrontation, even with Albert's abilities, taking down so many wizards would not have been an easy task. But it was a different story if they fell into disarray themselves.
"It's all thanks to Albert's amazing prediction that we discovered this in advance and turned the tables on them," Fred said. "Otherwise, we would definitely be at a disadvantage against such a large group." He was more concerned about why so many people were causing trouble for them. It seemed like they intended to rob their store.
If the products in the store were looted, the losses would be unbearable.
Everyone realized that Albert's decision to temporarily close the store was probably to avoid situations like this! "What do you think?" Albert asked.
"There shouldn't be any more ambushers," George replied, closing the map.
"I don't think the probability is high," Fred added, not convinced that the current group was a decoy.
"Being cautious won't hurt," Shannon agreed, aligning with Albert's cautious approach.
Especially now that Albert was on the mysterious person's blacklist, with a bounty of 10,000 Galleons still hanging over his head. Many sought the reward and wanted him dead.
"Alright, that should be enough. Let's go down," Albert said, waving his wand and summoning a gust of wind that blew away the mist lingering in Diagon Alley.
Some of the hooligans who had come to take advantage of the situation fled, while a few unlucky ones were taken down by the Stunning Spells.
The remaining cloaked figures hid under a magical shield, curious about Albert's sudden appearance. They whispered among themselves instead of immediately disapparating.
"They actually guessed right, it really is related to that guy."
Albert's eyebrows furrowed slightly at this unusual movement. He raised his wand and shattered the magical shield, intending to knock them out first and then search for the reason in their minds.
Before the few could recover from their astonishment, a huge force sent them flying, and they fell heavily to the ground, passing out.
"I can't believe it was this easy to deal with them," Shannon exclaimed, feeling that the night's events had turned into a farce in front of Albert.
With just the use of the Stunning Spell and Fog Spell, most of their troubles were easily resolved.
"After all, it's Albert; it's not surprising."
"This kind of good luck won't happen often. Others will definitely be more cautious in the future," Albert said. After casting another Stunning Spell on the suspicious individuals, he walked towards them, intending to use Legilimency to search their memories and find out what was going on.
Just as Albert was about to point his wand at one of their heads, one of the men who had been stunned earlier suddenly jumped up from the ground and launched a sneak attack on Albert.
A deadly curse flew towards Albert from an unexpected angle.
"Watch out!"
Their exclamations and screams filled the air, and in the moment their vision was filled with green light, Albert felt time slow down. He instinctively dove to the side, trying to dodge the fatal attack.
However, a figure was faster than him. The man suddenly stood up and bravely shielded Albert behind him.
The smile on the face of the attacker, who had thought his sneak attack would succeed, froze. He never expected that his attack would be... blocked by his own teammate.
The attacker tried again.
However, the attacker suddenly felt a searing pain in his arm. Looking down, he saw that the arm holding his wand had disappeared, and blood was splattering from the clean cut.
The painful scream that began to escape was forcibly cut short.
"Are you alright?" Shannon ran over, her face pale, to check on Albert. "Just now..."
"I'm fine," Albert assured her.
He looked towards a corner, then at the man who had just attempted the attack.
"That really scared me just now. I almost had a heart attack," Albert said.
Fred still had his hand on his chest, clearly not having recovered from the sudden turn of events.
Especially when they saw that someone had intended to use the Killing Curse on Albert, their hearts had nearly jumped out of their mouths.
"Was this a trap set for you?" George asked, frowning.
"Probably not," Albert said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He then raised his wand and pointed it at the man who had attacked him.
"Legilimens!"
The attacker's memories were soon laid bare before Albert, and he quickly discovered the reason for the ambush.
It was all Galleons' fault—the Malfoy family's reward of ten thousand Galleons was still valid.
The Death Eaters had instigated the attack from behind the scenes, intending to cause trouble for the Ministry of Magic and strike at their shop at the same time.
They seemed to have received some information that led them to believe that the Weasley twins and Albert were still closely connected, and this attack was apparently a test.
They never expected Albert to show up and take them all down.
And the attack just now had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
"That really scared me just now," Albert said, glancing at the corner of the panel task and then at the others. "My heart almost jumped out of my chest."
"It's not like you to..."
"Let's just notify someone from the Ministry of Magic to come and clean up the mess, and we won't mention what happened just now," Albert instructed, as if nothing had happened.
"But, you just..."
"I'm still alive," Albert interrupted impatiently. "The Death Eaters now know that this shop is connected to me, and I think they will definitely continue to cause trouble. So, for now, you can only act as suppliers and move to Safe House Number Three."
"Are you really okay?"
"Of course," Albert assured them. "Have the house-elves send Shannon back, and you all take care of things here. Remember to give the credit to the Ministry, and also ask them to look into this matter and find out who's causing trouble for us."
"Yaxley's men, the Malfoy bounty?" Albert turned and left, a cold smile on his lips.
The four of them looked at each other and then at Albert's departing back, their eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"There's something strange about this," Fred muttered.
"That man was strange, too, the way he suddenly shielded Albert from the Killing Curse..." They all looked at the unfortunate man who had been killed by the Killing Curse, falling into a brief silence.
"Since Albert doesn't want us to know, it's better not to investigate further," George suddenly interrupted. "Let's send a message to Kingsley first and also cast the Stunning Spell on these guys."
(End of Chapter)
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