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Chapter 872: An Innocent Bystander
Chapter 872: An Innocent Bystander
In the eyes of most witches and wizards, the Death Eaters lurking in Knockturn Alley and the shadows of Cornwall posed little threat. After all, they all shared a common trait: those in Knockturn Alley rarely ventured beyond the passageway into Diagon Alley, and the vagrant witches and wizards of Cornwall only gathered near an Atlantic port. As long as one stayed away from these places, there wouldn't be any problems.
But was that truly the case?
While a gun could threaten a pack of hungry wolves and drive them to desolate lands, the wolves could also choose to circumvent the direct threat and devise another plan. For instance, they might find foxes and moles and dig a tunnel underground, thus bypassing the threat of the gun and gaining direct access to the gardens beyond.
As Bartemius Crouch Jr. stepped out of the passageway and beheld the street with its distinct style, a flicker of excitement and madness ignited in his eyes.
"What an impressive feat of engineering," he exclaimed, sticking out his tongue in his enthusiasm. "I never thought the legend was true—that there's actually a secret passage connecting Cornwall to Devon under the sea."
"It's a shame we didn't have enough manpower; otherwise, we wouldn't have completed it just a year ago," said a wizard with short, reddish-brown hair who stood nearby, scrutinizing Bartemius Crouch Jr. with his arms crossed. His muscular arms resembled marble, and a scar running across his entire face gave him a particularly sinister appearance.
"Barberus Lynes," he introduced himself. "Proprietor of a second-hand Dark Arts shop."
"Bartemius Crouch... a faithful servant of the Dark Lord."
Lynes couldn't help but twitch his mouth at the other man's habit of sticking out his tongue from time to time.
Was that because he had been stung by a bee? Is this the standard for British wizards? Especially after hearing the other party's self-introduction, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Heh, heh, heh... Sorry, I couldn't help it." Lynes grinned, revealing his dirty, yellowed teeth. "I've never seen anyone call themselves a servant so proudly before. Are you some kind of crossbreed between a house-elf and a human?"
The people around him also laughed wantonly.
"You..."
The hooded wizard took a step forward, but before he could say anything, he suddenly clutched his neck and let out a painful moan.
Thud!
The next second, a head fell to the ground and rolled towards Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s feet.
"Sorry, my underling was being rude. How careless of him to leave such a thing lying around," Lynes said expressionlessly as he waved his wand, sweeping away a skull-shaped necklace from under the man's feet.
"Are you challenging the Dark Lord?" Bartemius Crouch Jr. asked, his face contorting with rage as he drew his wand.
"The Dark Lord hasn't even unified Britain yet... What a laughable title," Lynes scoffed.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
The two green lights collided in midair, forming an even larger sphere of light.
Thus, the battle began in a way neither of them had anticipated.
However, after a moment, both of them simultaneously broke off their magical attack.
"Not bad. You've got some skill," Lynes said, staring at Bartemius Crouch Jr. "According to our agreement, it should have been that Lestrange witch coming here. Why the change?"
"That useless woman? She's dead!"
"Is that so? What a pity." Lynes' gaze shifted to Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s wand-holding hand. "But I recall that she had a mark, didn't she?"
Bartemius Crouch Jr. pulled back his sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark on his arm—a serpentine skull in emerald green, from whose mouth emerged a coiling, lifelike snake of the same color.
The serpent's eyes seemed to hold a certain magical power, causing Lynes to unconsciously take two steps back.
"Excellent." Lynes' expression softened a little, and he glanced at the Dark Mark again. "As we discussed before, we are willing to join that... Dark Lord. But as per our agreement, once the Dark Lord has cleared out the British Ministry of Magic, Cornwall and Devon will be ours.
"Additionally, you still owe us a commission of three thousand Galleons."
"No problem. The Dark Lord will not mistreat any of his loyal servants." Bartemius Crouch Jr. turned his head, and one of his companions immediately reacted, tossing a heavy box to the ground.
The box was filled with golden Galleons, their shine dazzling, and the breathing of the surrounding witches and wizards became hurried at the sight.
"I think you've got something wrong," Lynes said, leaning against the box and taking a deep breath before looking at Bartemius Crouch Jr. "We're just business partners, and we're not house-elves."
Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s face contorted with rage once more, but this time, he restrained himself.
"Yes, business partners," he forced a smile, having made a decision.
Disloyalty to the Dark Lord meant certain death, but now was not the time. After dealing with those pests from the Order of the Phoenix, it would be these guys' turn.
He struggled to control his expression, but this very act amused Lynes.
It was evident that the man before him, like Lestrange, was the type of Dark wizard who thrived in an ivory tower. While he possessed some skill, he was only arrogant within the confines of his own home and had never ventured out.
Unaware of the hidden dangers, Bartemius Crouch Jr. seethed with rage, his face twisting in anger.
"You brought an Auror here? Kill him!"
"I'm about to explode! It's obvious you exposed your own location!" Bartemius shouted, his face half-charred, indicating significant injuries.
He was well aware of how Alastor Moody had followed them; the location gave it away—Alastor had been tailing them all along.
In other words, he hadn't fallen for the Gillmans' entire scheme but had been following Morb, the fool who fell for their ruse.
However, in the current situation, he couldn't reveal the truth or admit to his mistake.
Countless spells exploded in the sky like fireworks.
Meanwhile, not far away in the woods, Alastor Moody was hobbling along as fast as he could.
He had been the one following the Death Eaters in disguise, and his original plan was to pretend to be one of them and kill a vagrant wizard named Lynes, creating internal strife among them. But he hadn't anticipated that Lynes would be so perceptive.
After all, as a wanted fugitive in multiple countries, with warrants that could fill a book, his survival depended on his keen instincts.
Alastor's only hope now was to get out of this forest, which served as a buffer zone.
Alastor's expression grew grim.
His Disillusionment Charm had been interrupted, and although the blast had only affected his wooden leg, he had still sustained some injuries. He wouldn't be able to Disapparate again anytime soon.
He could only hope that the chaos he had caused would buy him some time, at least enough to send a message.
Lynes's group had around a hundred members, and with the secret passage to Devon, if the Order of the Phoenix was unaware, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
With these thoughts in mind, Moody quickened his pace.
However, missing a leg, even with a temporary support from a Transfiguration spell, made it extremely inconvenient to move swiftly.
Before long, a spell came flying from behind.
Boom!
The green light hit Moody square in the back, and he exploded.
"Transfiguration!" Bartemius Crouch Jr. shouted as he rushed forward, half his face charred from injuries.
"He's a legendary Auror; it was never going to be easy to capture him."
Lynes approached as well, and the two seemed to have come to an understanding, temporarily setting aside their differences to focus on capturing Moody.
"I've already sent people to the exit. He won't get away!" Lynes said coldly. "Split up and search. Send a signal if you find any clues. He was hit with the Blasting Curse and won't have gotten far.
"I refuse to believe that with all of us here, we'll let an injured Auror escape!"
At his command, the group that had been following them scattered in different directions. Bartemius waved his hand, and the Death Eaters joined the search.
Soon after, the two men each chose a direction and sprinted away.
Not long after they left, a clump of mud nearby began to shake, and a hand emerged from it.
Moody pulled himself out of the ground and leaned against a tree, panting heavily. His magical blue eye darted around rapidly in its socket.
He had narrowly escaped, but it was only temporary.
Moody was well aware that his chances of escape were slim.
After all, this was Lynes's territory, and with their numbers, it would be nearly impossible to escape a hundred witches and wizards.
If he still had his Invisibility Cloak, he might have had a chance, but it was now damaged beyond repair.
His only option, it seemed, was to risk using Disapparation.
Although he knew that in his current state, Disapparating would likely result in splinching, he figured that if he could just get his head out of here, he could take advantage of the brief period after splinching where the effects of the injury weren't immediately apparent to send a message...
"Yo, Professor Moody, need some help?"
A cheerful voice rang out from behind him.
Startled, Moody's magical eye twitched as if it might pop out of the back of his head. He spun around, his wand spitting out a stream of red sparks aimed at the figure behind him.
"It's me, Professor Moody. Don't accidentally hurt your own," a voice called out.
"You think this trick can fool me?" Moody exclaimed, springing up from the ground with a bounce. "Kyle wouldn't come to a place like this at this time."
"That's not right, why can't I come here?" Kyle shrugged. "What, do you need a ticket to get in here?"
Without waiting for Moody to answer, he continued, "Anyway, I always thought you'd already spotted me but just didn't say anything. It wasn't until you suddenly jumped out just now that I didn't react in time... Professor Moody, can't your magical eye see through invisibility cloaks?"
Moody's only response was a moment of silence before he replied, "The magical eye can only see through one layer of invisibility..."
Having been wearing an invisibility cloak himself, it was no wonder he hadn't noticed Kyle, who was also cloaked.
"Oh, I see," Kyle nodded. "But Professor, when you jumped out just now, you really scared me. I..."
"No, they're back," Moody interrupted, his magical eye darting into the back of his head as he tightly gripped his wand. "You'd better get going and tell Dumbledore about this!"
"Ah, that's not urgent. Besides, I don't know where Dumbledore is right now anyway," Kyle replied nonchalantly, appearing much more relaxed than the tense Moody, almost to the point of appearing indifferent.
In the blink of an eye, over a dozen people appeared around them.
"I knew something was off," Lynes stepped forward from the group, staring at Moody with malicious intent. "You're injured, so you shouldn't be able to run that fast. I never expected you to slip right past us."
"You're not getting away this time."
"Barberus Lynes!" Moody exclaimed, his heart sinking as he took in the sight of the dozen or so people surrounding them.
It was too late to run now, and to make matters worse, he now had Kyle by his side.
It was like a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
If the situation weren't so dire, he would have loved to grab Kyle by the ear and ask him why he didn't just leave earlier... Whether it was to deliver a message or call for backup, anything would have been more useful than wasting time exchanging pleasantries.
"Wait, who are you?" Lynes finally noticed Kyle standing behind Moody.
"Just an innocent bystander passing by," Kyle raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Well... just ignore me and carry on, pretend I'm not here."
"Are you insulting my intelligence?" Lynes scoffed. "Whoever you are, since you're here, stay and keep Alastor company."
Lynes paid little mind to the sudden appearance of Kyle, as the young wizard appeared to be in his late teens and thus posed little threat in his eyes.
His focus remained on Moody, and a glint of excitement flashed in his eyes. "This is truly exciting! I never expected to have the legendary Auror, who filled half of Azkaban, die by my hand. You never thought of that, did you, Alastor?"
Moody remained silent, choosing not to respond to Lynes' taunts. Instead, he quickly shut his eyes, even causing his magical eye to retreat into the back of his head.
This was because Kyle had whispered to him earlier, instructing him to close his eyes.
Under normal circumstances, Moody would never consider making such a suicidal move in battle. However, his instincts compelled him to trust Kyle in that moment.
Subsequently, Moody faintly felt something slide past him, and a cool sensation crept up his remaining leg.
...
(End of Chapter)
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