Hermione Granger? The brains of the main trio?
Leonard recalled the girl's face—light freckles, slightly prominent front teeth, and hair so thick it looked like a wild tangle. With a little grooming, she might actually be quite pretty.
"But the main cast… nothing but trouble. Best to avoid them." Leonard tugged his hood low, shrouding his face in shadow.
His next stop was Knockturn Alley. He needed to scout for a good place to set an ambush.
The mission required a battle between plants and wizards. Nowhere did it say traps were off-limits.
In his past life as a bounty hunter, most of his jobs had been traps and ambushes—clean, efficient, leaving little trace. They raised his odds of success and kept risk to a minimum.
If all went well, he might even finish this mission without putting himself in real danger.
Knockturn Alley was technically connected to Diagon Alley—at least three narrow lanes led straight from one to the other.
In theory, these entrances were clearly marked to keep innocents from wandering in.
In practice… not so much.
Leonard stood by a wall with a grimy gray street sign and curled his lip.
He'd nearly missed the marker entirely.
The sign was like a boundary line: one step behind him, Diagon Alley bustled with life; one step ahead, Knockturn Alley lay empty and desolate.
A glance was enough to see the difference. Shops here looked dreary, half-abandoned, as if they might collapse any day. The streets were quiet, almost lifeless.
Leonard, hood still drawn, walked slowly into Knockturn Alley.
Here, just a short walk from the sunlight of Diagon Alley, eyes followed him. On the main street they merely stared, sizing him up. But in the darker side alleys, hostile gazes pressed against him like clammy tentacles wrapping around his body.
The stares made Leonard's skin crawl, and for the first time he questioned whether walking in so openly was wise.
He stopped at a narrow passage, committing its layout to memory.
Good spot—tight enough for only one to pass through, both ends open for a quick retreat.
Risk of being flanked, yes, but if he struck fast enough, there'd be no chance for that.
As he mulled over how to arrange his traps, a man with burn scars across his face stepped out from the alley, lips curling into a cold smile.
"Well, hello there, little one."
Definitely unfriendly.
Leonard's face stayed impassive. One hand clutched the restless Chomping Cabbage hidden beneath his robe as he slowly backed away.
"Where do you think you're going, kid?" another voice sneered.
A second man—a long-faced wizard with more scars—appeared behind him, reaching out with a wicked grin.
So the mission was starting earlier than expected.
Leonard's lips tightened. He wasn't a child inside. His first instinct wasn't fear—it was to strike back.
True, the ambush was sudden and he was outnumbered, but he'd known Knockturn Alley would be dangerous. He'd brought every tool he had for survival.
Besides the fully matured, mobile Chomping Cabbage, he carried ten of its seeds.
To these men, he looked like nothing more than a curious kid who'd wandered where he didn't belong. They had no idea the plant in his arms was deadly enough to tear a throat out in seconds.
Just as Leonard prepared to fling the cabbage into the face of the man behind him, a shadow loomed over them.
A massive hand clamped around the scarred man's reaching arm, halting it midair.
"What a fine example—bullying a child." A low, vicious voice cut through the alley.
Leonard looked up to see a woman towering at least two meters tall.
Her height alone was imposing, yet her athletic build made her figure strikingly balanced. Her features were sharp, her narrow eyes glinting like those of a mother leopard prowling her territory—beautiful, but dangerous.
"Midgard?" The wizard whose arm she had seized yelped in shock, only for the cry to twist into a scream.
The giantess known as Midgard clenched his arm, lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing, and hurled him over Leonard's head. He crashed into the wizard blocking Leonard's path.
"Out," Midgard said coldly.
The two wizards scrambled to their feet and bolted, stumbling over one another in their haste. Midgard's gaze then shifted to Leonard.
"Kid?" Her voice was harsh. "Get out of here. This isn't a place for you."
Her fierce expression was clearly for show, meant to scare him off. If she hadn't cared, she wouldn't have intervened at all, much less bothered to warn him.
"Thank you for stepping in, Madam," Leonard said sincerely.
Even if he was confident he could've dealt with those two, she had helped him, and he wasn't about to act ungrateful.
And truthfully, he couldn't be sure what might have happened in a rushed fight. Wizards who resorted to road-blocking in Knockturn Alley likely knew dark magic—perhaps even Unforgivable Curses. One mistake could be fatal.
Midgard frowned slightly as she watched Leonard's retreating figure. Something about the boy was… wrong.
Too calm. He wasn't like a child who'd wandered in by mistake, nor some reckless teenager chasing thrills.
"Hmph. Whatever gives you that confidence, stay away. This isn't a playground," Midgard muttered, turning on her heel.
She had no idea that the boy hadn't abandoned his plans for Knockturn Alley at all. He was already preparing to stage an ambush there.
Back in the bustle of Diagon Alley, Leonard's plan was set.
Tonight, he would complete the System's Beginner's Quest.