Knockturn Alley Needs Order!

As time passed, Ivan's heart sank.

He had made so many preparations today, capturing all the wizards in Knockturn Alley in one go. If he could succeed in one fell swoop, it would be fine, but if he failed, the consequences would be severe.

To Ivan's slight relief, with only ten seconds remaining, a hand slowly rose.

The wizards, who had been hesitating for a moment, turned to look. It was Mark.

Mark did not waver under the scrutiny of the crowd. He stared at Ivan on the dais, then at his nine-year-old son who had been captured with him.

"Perhaps you're right. Knockturn Alley needs order… I don't want what happened that day to happen again…"

Mark's emotional exclamation touched the wizards present.

However, there were soon objections.

"Who knows if he's telling the truth?"

"I don't think he had any reason to lie to us…" Mark cautioned, gesturing to the law-enforcement officers gathered around. "Remember, we never had a choice."

Mark made it clear that the odds were against them, and there was nothing they could do even if Ivan had ill intentions.

After a period of silence, more and more wizards raised their hands, and those who had objected were forced to bow their heads.

A short while later, everyone in the audience raised their hands in agreement, and Ivan's heart finally relaxed. The one-minute deadline had passed, but at least he had achieved his goal.

The only unfortunate thing was that the mission completion alert did not go off for a long time. Ivan had an idea. He opened the mission column and saw that the progress of the task of tidying up Knockturn Alley had increased to 97%…

Why is there only three percent left? Did I miss something?

Ivan's brow furrowed as he looked at the raised hands, then his face relaxed as he realised what was happening. He took a few steps forward, a smile back on his face, and opened his hands.

"I'm glad everyone made the right choice!"

"You and I are wizards of the Forgotten Land, afflicted by hunger and suffering, and we share the same belief that we should be united as brothers and sisters…"

"But may I add…" Ivan's smile faded slightly, and his words sharpened. "Some of you do not deserve to stand with us!"

"They are the abusers of the weak, the murderers, the looters, the ones who bring us pain and make our lives worse than ever… they are not our friends, but our enemies!"

Ivan paced up and down the platform, his hawk-like eyes sweeping over the wizards whose faces had changed dramatically, and then he grinned and said, "I can understand the resentment and pain in every one of you, and I will allow you to vent it now—push the perpetrators to me and face justice, and that will be the first thing I will do for you!"

As soon as he said this, the orderly square immediately became chaotic, and an old witch screamed.

"Are you kidding? Don't let him fool you. He's just trying to divide and enslave us!"

"We have more than a hundred people here. Why don't we just charge out? Do you think they'll dare to kill us all?" Another few wizards agreed sternly.

Ivan, however, paid no attention to their words. After casting a Resounding Charm on himself, he shouted at the audience.

"Let's begin. Let's restore order!"

Ivan's words were like a switch that had been thrown. The normally subservient and fearful poor people revealed fierce expressions on their faces. The suppressed anger in their hearts was completely ignited, and their eyes turned to the wizards who had just tried to cause chaos.

"What do you think you're doing?" one of the Dark Wizards demanded. He instinctively reached for his wand, but it was too late.

It was only then that he remembered that his wand had already been stolen by those hateful law-enforcement officers. Even the few Dark Magic items he had hidden in his pocket had been looted while he was unconscious.

He could do nothing but throw two fists at the mob… and watch as a dozen enraged wizards threw him to the ground.

The noise and chaos lasted for about five minutes, and the twenty or so wizards were soon kicked out, all of them bruised and battered.

The last wizard to be pushed out was covered in bruises and looked extremely miserable. However, he climbed onto the platform in an uncharacteristic manner and lay trembling in front of Ivan, complaining bitterly that he had been wrongly accused and framed…

Ivan glanced down at the wizard and spoke coldly. "Jamie Davis?"

"You know me, Sir Harris?" Jamie's heart skipped a beat.

"Of course I do…" Ivan said, amused. "You graduated from Hogwarts twenty-one years ago, and made a living in the wizarding world by selling counterfeit goods. It wasn't until you killed an Auror who saw through you fourteen years ago that you fled to Knockturn Alley, where you became a habitual thief and marauder, am I right?"

Jamie's pupils contracted as he looked at Ivan with fear in his eyes. He could understand Ivan knowing that he was a habitual thief, but the fact that he had killed an Auror was a secret that no one knew about…

He could not understand where she got this information.

However, Jamie was no longer in the mood to think, and his expression of fear gradually turned ferocious. He knew from the start that Ivan would not let him off the hook so easily, and the law-enforcement officers surrounding him cut off his escape.

Their only hope of survival was to capture this young wizard, and now was their best chance!

Traces of excitement welled up in his heart. Jamie knew very well that it would be impossible for the Enforcers to come to their aid at such a close distance, and that the wizard in close proximity would have no chance of pulling out his wand!

Jamie sprang up from the ground almost instantly and threw himself at Ivan, his nimble right hand pointing straight at Ivan's neck…

To Jamie's surprise, Ivan didn't react to his outburst.

Under the influence of Legilimency, whatever was on Jamie's mind had long since been exposed, and so when faced with such a "sudden" attack, Ivan merely spat out the words sarcastically.

"Ridiculous!"