The ancient-looking witch reacted quickly.
She slapped herself, and a large cloud of inky black smoke immediately erupted, obscuring everything.
The teenager and the boy strained to open their eyes, hearing only a series of crackling sounds and spells whizzing through the smoke.
After an unknown period, the smoke dispersed, revealing a poor-looking wizard gripping his wand, slowly approaching.
When the black smoke cleared, it revealed two people...
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 struck by a Blasting Curse, bloody. His body was also covered in boils, pustules, and marks as if he had been scalded.
He couldn't make a sound, only his eyes darted around in terror.
The teenager and the boy's Body-Bind Curse was lifted. He quickly covered his younger brother's eyes to prevent him from looking around.
The strange, hag-like witch was mostly gone... but her lower half remained on the ground.
"What happened to her?" he asked in horror.
"Splinched," the middle-aged grey-robed wizard who saved them said slowly. "Such accidents happen when one isn't focused and calm 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 sharply contracted when he saw the wand in the wizard's hand.
The grey-robed wizard pulled out a potion bottle and poured its entire contents into the wizard's mouth.
The teenager stammered, "That... killing is illegal?"
"Killing?" The grey-robed wizard rolled his eyes impatiently. "What are you thinking? This is the Draught of Living Death."
"Oh..." The teenager awkwardly scratched his face, relaxing completely.
The Draught of Living Death, also known as the Living Death Potion, despite its name sounding like "death" and "hell," was actually just a very potent sleeping potion.
"Let's go, I'll see you out."
The grey-robed wizard picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the ground, stuffed it to the teenager, and said, "Also, there was no curse on that letter; you were tricked."
"Thank you for saving us."
The little boy suddenly pushed his brother's hand away, looked at the man, and said, "I'm Lyte Mancini, and my brother is Theo... What's your name?"
"You can call me Waynar."
The grey-robed wizard's tone was calm. Theo watched him silently from beside him.
"Is something wrong?" Waynar asked him.
Theo looked back and asked, "What about those two? Are you just leaving them?"
"Of course not," Waynar said. "Who are they? Why did they target you brothers? Do they have any accomplices?"
"All of this needs to be investigated thoroughly... but my assistance ends here."
At the alley's mouth, he stopped, looking at Theo.
"Go find your parents and elders and tell them about this. Whether to report it to the Aurors or investigate yourselves, that's your business."
Theo was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand... And you?"
"Look at those two. Can I leave them alone?"
The wizard waved his hand. "Hurry up. I'll stay here until the people you find arrive."
"Alright."
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, looking out.
Seeing his two children running over, 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 the events.
John Mancini's face grew uglier with every detail. Even with his two children standing before him, he felt waves of fear.
Only when he heard that the two had been rescued did he relax a bit.
Then, hearing that the 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 you dare go out! I'll deal with you two later!"
Theo's face stiffened.
Then John pointed his wand at a sticky note by the counter. Several pieces of paper flew out, automatically folded into a simple paper airplane, and whizzed out.
Before long, six or seven wizards and witches emerged from other shops.
As a pureblood family, the Mancinis, though not as numerous as the Weasleys, still had quite a few relatives and friends.
Besides his father John, his uncle Jason also owned a magical supplies shop in Diagon Alley, and his aunt, cousin, and other relatives also worked in Diagon Alley.
John Mancini explained the situation to them, and the group was furious, quickly heading towards the alley.
Only Theo's cousin stayed behind, guarding the two children to prevent them from encountering further danger.
Theo pretended to be well-behaved, pulling his brother back inside, and whispered to him, "Lyte, I need to go out for a bit. You distract Cousin."
"Leave it to me!" Lyte said confidently. "Mission accomplished, guaranteed!"
Then, he let out an earth-shattering wail: "Waaahhh..."
"What's wrong?" Theo's cousin was startled and hurried over to comfort him.
"So scary!" Lyte tugged at her sleeve, wailing. "The bad people almost captured us... Boohoohoo..."
"Weren't you not scared a moment ago?" his cousin said helplessly. "Don't cry. 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 Waynar. He only saw that the wizard had already been given the antidote to the Draught of Living Death by his father and had woken up.
"Veritaserum, three drops are enough," Uncle Jason said, holding 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 in three drops of the clear liquid.
The wizard's struggles immediately ceased. He stared blankly at the sky, answering whatever was asked.
"Who are you?" John asked.
"I am Chad Breck. I am a..." His eyelids fluttered, and he whispered, "Werewolf."
The expressions of the Mancini family members immediately changed.
During the war, children in the wizarding world were often abducted by werewolves and then also infected, becoming werewolves themselves.
They were raised from a young age to fear and hate wizards, and as adults, they became part of werewolf armies, attacking wizards under Fenrir Greyback.
Other children, after being bitten, were left with their parents, and from then on, would turn into werewolves every month, attacking everyone indiscriminately.
This was undoubtedly a devastating disaster for a family.
If the Mancini brothers had been taken by this werewolf, the outcome was almost self-evident.
However, in recent years, such incidents had clearly become rare.
John took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and asked, "Then why did you attack those two children? Do you have a grudge against the Mancini family?"
"No," Chad Breck said in a flat tone. "I was in a bad mood, and they just happened to run into me, and their parents weren't around..."
"You bastard!" John punched out, but his brother caught his arm.
"Who was that old hag? Do you have any other accomplices?" Jason asked, relatively calmer.
"She called herself Ursula. I met her in Knockturn Alley."
Chad Breck said, "I have no accomplices. She likes children's eyes and fingernails. When she saw I took those two children, she wanted a share of the spoils..."
"Filthy beast!" John Mancini couldn't help but curse furiously.
Theo didn't listen further. He recalled Waynar's initial direction of travel and his attire, and something suddenly clicked.
Diagon Alley had a street entirely dedicated to selling second-hand goods.
Wizards with no money often scoured for bargains there, occasionally finding valuable items, but mostly picking the least terrible things from junk.
Theo quickly ran there, and sure enough, he saw the grey-robed wizard's back in the distance. He was bending over, examining a pile of miscellaneous goods displayed by a shop owner.
Theo ran over, then suddenly didn't know how to address him: "Um... Mr. Waynar..."
"You just went through that, and you're running around again," Waynar turned around, scolding. "Are you really so careless about your own safety?"
Theo suddenly didn't want to pretend anymore. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you going to kidnap me too, esteemed Mr. Waynar? Or rather..."
His lips moved slightly, silently saying:
[...Wade.]
Wade raised an eyebrow but didn't deny it. He looked down at his attire and asked, "Where else are the flaws?"
Theo pointed to his sleeve and whispered, "I recognize your wand."
Wade sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do about that; I haven't gotten 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 barrel, some even with their cores exposed.
"There's nothing good here," Theo said. "Come with me; I know where to get reliable second-hand wands."