The Fool in Hogwarts

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"You’re kidnapping me." Vade’s face turned pale as he spoke in panic.

"Hahaha! This is Knockturn Alley." The wizard who had reminded the witch to knock stood up with a laugh. His hair was thinning, and when he spoke, he revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Forget kidnapping. Even if we killed you, the Ministry wouldn’t interfere."

"Enough, Thomas." The grey-haired wizard sitting beside the fireplace drew his wand and pointed it warily at Vade. "My dear boy, hand over your wand first."

"You’re always so cautious," Hannah said disdainfully. "He’s only a child. He hasn’t even graduated from school yet. How dangerous could he be?"

"The reason we haven’t been thrown into Azkaban is because we’re careful.

"A sufficiently gifted wizard might already be capable of killing us at his age."

"If he were really that powerful, Hannah wouldn’t have managed to bring him here," Thomas said dismissively. Even so, seeing that Bart remained vigilant left him somewhat speechless.

"Hand over your wand. Bart doesn’t have much patience."

Vade gritted his teeth and reluctantly surrendered his silver-grey wand.

He did not use Spirit Vision to examine Thomas or Bart, but his initial judgement was that they were probably about as strong as Hannah. Otherwise, the three of them would not be equals.

Three against one, his chances of victory were around sixty per cent. If he caught them by surprise, however, he could raise those odds to nearly one hundred per cent.

The wariness in Bart’s eyes gradually faded. In his opinion, the child now posed no threat whatsoever.

The wizarding world had no shortage of prodigies, but only three people in the past century had been capable of wandless magic at this age. Judging by the child’s behaviour, he certainly would not be the fourth.

"What’s your name, boy?"

"Seamus Finnigan," Vade said timidly.

"Finnigan?" Bart looked at the other two. "Never heard of them. Have either of you?"

"They aren’t part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, so they’re probably an ordinary wizarding family," Thomas said. "They won’t be able to pay much ransom, but the risk is low."

"O-Our headmaster is Dumbledore. He’s the most powerful wizard of the century," Vade said with false bravado.

"Our Head of House, Minerva McGonagall, is very powerful too."

The three Dark wizards exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

"I’m terrified!" Thomas said theatrically. "If either of them were here, we’d surrender immediately. Unfortunately, they aren’t."

"That’s enough. Make him write to his family. We’ll follow the usual arrangement and exchange him for ransom.

"Hannah, stay here and make sure he doesn’t escape. Thomas and I will go and find a buyer after we’ve eaten. Once we sell that merchandise, we’ll have enough money to live comfortably for several years."

"What kind of merchandise is worth that much?" Vade asked curiously.

"You’d fetch no more than three hundred Galleons in ransom. That item is worth at least ten times as much as you are."

"So what is it?"

"There’s no reason to tell him."

"At least show some respect for three hundred Galleons."

"Fair enough." Thomas sneered, then opened a parcel beside the fireplace. Inside was a pale yellow egg the size of a rugby ball, its surface marked with patterns resembling wind and lightning.

"A dragon egg?"

"That isn’t a dragon egg. We found it in a Thunderbird’s nest, but it doesn’t seem to be a Thunderbird egg either."

"An unknown magical creature?" Vade looked thoughtful. Perhaps this trip had not been a loss after all. He happened to need a pet.

"Can I take a look?"

"Of course not," Thomas refused bluntly. "Stop making demands. You should be grateful we’re letting you live."

"You... you haven’t really killed anyone before, have you?" Vade asked tentatively.

"Hannah and I have only killed a few Muggles, but Bart once sent a Ministry Auror to St Mungo’s."

"That girl was lucky. She dodged the Killing Curse," Bart said regretfully, shaking his head. "She didn’t avoid the Blasting Curse that followed, though."

"You know what to write to your parents, don’t you?" Hannah approached Vade with parchment and a quill. "We only want money, but if the money doesn’t arrive, there’s no telling what might happen."

"I understand. I understand." Vade gave an awkward, bitter smile and took the parchment.

Then, with lightning speed, he swept it across Hannah’s throat.

Swish!

Hannah clutched her neck with both hands, but she could not stop the blood pouring from her throat. She fell backwards in disbelief, bringing her sinful life to an end.

The sudden turn of events also stunned Bart and Thomas. After a brief moment of panic, they quickly drew their wands, but before either of them could cast a spell, the parchment sliced across their throats like a razor-sharp throwing knife.

Blood sprayed through the air. The two Dark wizards struggled briefly before collapsing one after the other.

Vade could not stop himself from retching. No matter how strong his nerves were, killing someone for the first time inevitably left him nauseated.

"Life at the bottom of the wizarding world really is brutal," Vade lamented silently, then prepared to retrieve his wand.

At that moment, a warning suddenly flashed through his mind. His body instinctively tried to dodge, but he was still a step too late.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A beam of green light struck his body. Vade was hurled backwards, and his eyes became vacant.

Bart staggered to his feet. The bloody wound across his neck was still bleeding, but it was also healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"That was close. I nearly died."

"Yes, that was close. I nearly died too."

A shaken voice came from behind him.

Bart’s pupils contracted sharply, but before he could react, a Severing Charm blasted him across the room.

Bart slammed heavily into the wall and fell to the floor. Several neat cuts across his body steadily poured blood.

The intense pain made him cry out, but only a faint groan escaped his throat.

His vision grew increasingly blurred, and his mind was filled with questions.

The Killing Curse had clearly struck him. Why was he not dead?

When had he moved behind him? Had he used Apparition?

He did not even have a wand in his hand. How had he cast a spell far more powerful than someone his age should have been capable of?

Vade picked up his wand, walked over to him, and spoke in an apologetic tone.

"I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to cast the Killing Curse yet, so I can only let you die a little more painfully.

"I should have used Diffindo, but that would have been rather bloody. I don’t want to have nightmares tonight."

"I was careless this time. I didn’t expect you to use a Healing Charm to close the wound in time. I’ll learn from this mistake in the future."

"H-How did you do it?"

"Oh, I understand what you’re confused about.

"I’ve been capable of wandless magic since birth. I haven’t learnt Apparition yet, but I can use Flame Jump. As for the Killing Curse... I used a substitute to block it."

As Vade spoke, he stepped aside so that Bart could see the torn paper figurine lying on the floor.

"The... fourth one."

Bart forced out a bitter smile. As he resigned himself to death, his hatred for Hannah reached its peak.

What kind of rotten luck did you have? You abducted one young wizard and somehow found the fourth prodigy in a century. We really did deserve to die.

(To be continued.)