Exposed Disguise

"Which Dark Arts shop are you talking about?" Yvonne ventured.

"Borkin' Burke, of course… after all that time, I wonder which side won." Tom sighed.

Ivan frowned. He had been cooped up in his temporary quarters for the past few days, trying to find a way to change the past, so he was unaware of this.

However, two Dark Arts shops were attacked in quick succession, and Ivan had to wonder if there was a connection.

Who was targeting the owner of the Dark Arts shop? Or…

A hundred thoughts flashed through Ivan's mind.

Ivan put on an interested face and then questioned her.

"What happened then? Didn't they say the Aurors checked it out? Found who did it?"

"Come on, those Aurors don't have the guts for this…" Tom pursed his lips in disdain, took a sip of butterbeer, and continued slowly.

"Besides, the dead are all Dark Wizards, and I'm told there are many werewolves who come from other places, and the Ministry would like nothing better than to see as many of them dead as possible."

"With so many deaths, the order of the month has improved…" Tom gloated.

'This attack was a month ago?'

Just as Ivan was about to continue asking questions to see if he could get any useful information, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

Yvonne's first instinct was to activate the protective ring's effect and knock him back.

But then Ivan remembered why he was there and forced the thought away. He put his right hand on his wand and calmly turned his head.

Beside him was a middle-aged wizard. He had an ordinary appearance, but was unusually tall. His hands were like pliers as they wrapped tightly around Ivan's shoulders, immobilizing him.

"What are you doing here, Daniel? Where are the others?" The middle-aged wizard used his free hand to snatch the butterbeer from Ivan's hand. He gulped it down, then eyed Ivan suspiciously.

"Waiting for you here, of course…" Yvonne replied smoothly.

Ivan then lowered his voice and complained.

"You didn't tell us that woman was so powerful. We suffered greatly when we attacked her and were tricked…"

"We'll talk about it when we get back!" the middle-aged wizard interrupted, glaring warningly at Tom for eavesdropping before forcibly pulling Ivan away.

Tom shrugged nonchalantly and helped himself to the half-empty bottle of butterbeer.

He wasn't going to stick his nose where it didn't belong, not with Ivan being so vague and not having any substance at all…

Ivan didn't resist when he was pulled away, which suited him just fine.

It was not a good idea to start a fight at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry's Auror was not far away, and it would be bad if there was a misunderstanding.

Ivan was then forced out of the Leaky Cauldron, and the pair headed for the dark alleyways of Knockturn Alley.

When they were alone, the burly middle-aged wizard threw himself at Ivan, pinning him to a corner and grabbing him by the collar.

"Tell me what's going on!"

Why the rush?!

Yvonne was confused. Or were there friends among the dead attackers?

At this thought, Ivan pretended to be afraid and stammered.

"When we entered the Dark Arts shop to fight the shop owner, we were caught in a trap. A Dark Arts prop caused an explosion and many people were injured. I was the only one who managed to escape…"

"Then where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come to us?" The middle-aged wizard's eyes were full of distrust.

"I've been hiding in a run-down room on the east side of the city, recovering from my injuries. I didn't dare look for you. The other eight people were all dead, and I was the only one alive, so…" Ivan tried to think of the right words, trying to recreate his image.

These words seemed to lower the middle-aged wizard's guard, and he lowered his right hand, which was restraining Ivan.

Before Ivan could breathe a sigh of relief, the middle-aged wizard threw his right fist at him.

Using the protective ring, a transparent barrier of magic appeared in front of Ivan.

The punch caused ripples to appear on the surface, and the recoil forced the burly middle-aged wizard back.

"Expelliarmus!" Unsure how he had been exposed, Ivan waved his wand, and a blinding red light flashed in the dim night.

At such a close distance, the Disarming Charm missed. The middle-aged wizard twisted his body and rolled twice on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"You're not Daniel?!" The middle-aged wizard's face was grim.

"Of course not!" Yvonne had no interest in pretending otherwise, but she asked curiously, "Did I say something wrong?"

The wizard didn't answer, but quickly leapt from the ground and charged at Ivan, smashing his elbow down.

The magical barrier again resisted for Ivan…

The Shield Charm was not designed to withstand physical attacks, and after two heavy blows it showed signs of instability.

Are you a wizard or not?

Ivan was very upset, but he also knew that at such a close distance, unless one could cast no spells, fists would work better than magic!

Fortunately, he was no ordinary wizard. With a thought, the runes on Ivan's bracelet lit up.

Before the next blow hit his face, a shock wave of pure magic spread out from Ivan.

The tower-like wizard was thrown back against the wall behind him.

"Stupefy…" Ivan waved his wand, trying to cast a spell to subdue his opponent, but suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A deep male voice sounded from the other side of the alley, and a deep green light shot out of the darkness.

Ivan threw several buttons in that direction the moment he saw the green light.

As they flew through the air, the Transfiguration Charm was lifted from the buttons, and several black, fist-sized rats appeared in the middle of the pack. The green light hit one of the rats, and the rest fled in terror.

These mice, which had been transformed into buttons, were naturally prepared by Ivan.

After nearly being killed by Tom Riddle's Avada Kedavra, Ivan had been thinking about how to deal with the Killing Curse.

Its effect was simple and direct: to end a life, and there was no counter-curse.

There are ways to deal with it. Find a living animal to ward off the Killing Curse, like the phoenix in the Chamber of Secrets in the last school year…

While Ivan was defending himself from the Killing Curse, the burly wizard stood up and two figures emerged from the dark alley in the distance.

Ivan's expression darkened. It was clear that the other party had brought him here in advance…