Chapter 345: Chapter 345
Diagon Alley had become a sea of fire.
Flames erupted from every shop, licking at signs, devouring eaves, and climbing the walls.
Screams, sobbing, and the rumble of collapsing buildings filled the air.
People fought the flames with water orbs, spells, blankets, and anything else they could get their hands on.
Lynn and Tonks swept their gazes from one end of the street to the other and then back again.
There wasn’t a single Death Eater or giant in sight.
Tonks made a snap decision. They would put out the fires first and search for the attackers afterward.
"Aguamenti!"
She flicked her wand repeatedly, sending one water orb after another shooting from its tip.
Each orb was as large as a washbasin and carried considerable force as it smashed against burning walls, flaming signs, and windows spewing fire.
The water orbs burst upon impact, spraying water in every direction and sending plumes of white steam billowing into the air. The flames hissed beneath the relentless barrage.
Tonks moved quickly, cursing under her breath even as she fought the fire.
"Those damned Death Eaters... They don’t even take a break for Christmas... Don’t they celebrate holidays? Don’t they have families? Oh, right, they don’t... A bunch of bastards who won’t even have sons to—"
Lynn wasn’t standing idle either.
He stood several paces behind Tonks, holding his wand high and pointing it directly toward the sky.
Dark clouds gradually spread across the sky above Diagon Alley, slowly gathering over the tip of Lynn’s wand.
The thick clouds obscured the moonlight, and the low rumble of thunder echoed through the air.
Tonks’s wand movements abruptly stopped.
She looked up at the sky, her mouth slightly open and her pupils reflecting the increasingly dark, descending clouds.
Drip—
A raindrop landed on her face.
Tonks froze for a moment.
And then—
Whoosh—!!!
A torrential downpour came crashing down.
The rain struck the fires with a deafening hiss. White smoke billowed into the air as the flames flickered violently beneath the deluge, receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The entirety of Diagon Alley fell silent beneath the pouring rain.
Tonks stood motionless in the downpour, completely stunned.
She suddenly felt like a bit of a clown.
The shopkeepers, however, didn’t care about that. They didn’t care what Tonks was thinking. All they knew was that the fires had been extinguished and their shops had been saved.
A group of them repeatedly bowed to Lynn, expressing their gratitude.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"
"It’s saved! My property is saved! Thank you, sir!"
"Sir, I have a daughter about the same age as you..." A fat wizard squeezed his way to the front of the crowd, his face covered in smiles.
"Give it a rest!" A thin witch beside him shoved him aside. "I’ve seen that daughter of yours. She’s as wide as a barrel and barely half as tall. Would this gentleman even spare her a glance?"
The fat wizard’s face turned beet red.
"You—!"
"Sir, my daughter..." The thin witch turned toward Lynn, her own face now filled with smiles.
"You give it a rest too!" another voice called from the back of the crowd.
An old man wearing an apron squeezed his way forward.
"I’ve seen your daughter too. She’s old enough to be this gentleman’s mother!"
The thin witch’s face also turned red.
"You—!"
The old man ignored her and addressed Lynn directly.
"Sir, I don’t have a daughter, but I do have a nephew. He’s handsome and has a good character. If you’re interested—"
Lynn: "..."
Good grief. How could anyone repay kindness with such "vengeance"?
The corner of his mouth twitched as he stared at the group of shopkeepers scrambling to set him up with their relatives.
Perhaps he had summoned the wrong kind of storm.
It should have rained lightning instead—preferably directly onto these people’s heads.
By the time Lynn finally managed to send the shopkeepers away, most of the fires had been extinguished.
Only then did he and Tonks venture deeper into Diagon Alley.
The street was covered in standing water, reaching above their ankles in the deepest places. All kinds of debris floated across its surface—charred fragments of wood, broken glass, soaked paper, and several pieces of clothing that had been washed out of one of the shops.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street had been damaged beyond recognition.
Some were little more than empty shells, their walls still standing but their interiors completely gutted.
Others no longer had any walls at all and had been reduced to piles of charred rubble.
Yet amid the devastation of Diagon Alley, one shop still stood proudly among the ruins.
Without a doubt, it was Lynn’s shop.
Lynn nodded in satisfaction.
The enormous amount of money he had spent on the shop’s security and renovations had been well worth it.
The two continued cautiously down the street.
Before long, they discovered a crushed corpse lying in front of the entrance to Ollivanders Wand Shop.
The shopkeepers had told them that a group of giants had followed a large band of Death Eaters in an attack on Ollivander.
Those giants were approximately the same size as Hagrid—
No, they were even larger than Hagrid.
Hagrid was only a half-giant and stood at roughly half the height of a true giant. A full-blooded giant could stand three or four stories tall, and a single step from one could crush stone pavement into a crater.
If an entire group of such creatures rampaged through the streets, the resulting scene would undoubtedly be even more terrifying than the fires.
It appeared the shopkeepers hadn’t been lying.
Lynn and Tonks pushed open the door to the already dilapidated Ollivanders Wand Shop.
Calling it a "door" was generous. It was little more than a wooden board barely clinging to its frame.
The interior of the shop was a complete mess.
Shelves had toppled over, and wand boxes lay scattered everywhere. Some had been burned to ashes, while others had been crushed beyond recognition.
A deep crack ran through one wall from floor to ceiling, as though something enormous had struck it from outside.
Judging by the scene, Ollivander had been taken away.
As for why the Death Eaters hadn’t killed him, there was only one possible explanation: they were also suffering from a shortage of skilled personnel—especially experts capable of manufacturing their "munitions."
"According to the rules, does this count as a failed mission for us?" Lynn asked, looking at Tonks.
Tonks scratched her hair in frustration.
"Strictly speaking... yes."
Just then, the hum of an engine sounded from outside the window.
Lynn turned toward the noise and saw Hagrid landing outside the shop on a motorcycle.
The motorcycle was enormous, but with Hagrid sitting on it, the vehicle somehow appeared perfectly proportioned.
As soon as the motorcycle stopped—and before its engine had even died—Hagrid pushed open the already ruined door to Ollivander’s shop.
Bang!
The door broke apart completely.
The wooden board that had been barely clinging to the frame was sent flying by his push. It smashed against the wall and shattered into several pieces.
Hagrid hunched his back and lowered his head, squeezing through the now-nonexistent doorway. His shoulder caught against the frame, causing it to crack even further.
"Oh, Lynn—and Tonks."
His face was filled with surprise.
"What are you two doing here?"
Lynn and Tonks exchanged a somewhat speechless glance.
"I should be asking you that, Hagrid," Tonks said. "Why are you here?"
Hagrid mumbled under his breath for a long time without producing a coherent answer.
Lynn’s eyes darted around, and he quickly realized the key point.
"Hagrid," he said, "you wouldn’t happen to be here because of those giants, would you?"
Hagrid’s body stiffened slightly.
"I heard that Diagon Alley had been attacked, so I rushed over immediately. But I didn’t expect to arrive too late."
Lynn looked at him and remained silent for a moment.
"You aren’t still thinking about persuading those giants to change their minds, are you?"
Hagrid was silent for a while before finally nodding.
Lynn no longer knew what to say about him.
If Lynn had wasted so much breath trying to persuade someone only to be beaten up in return, choosing not to burn their entire tribe to ashes would already have been extraordinarily generous of him.
The phrase "repaying evil with kindness" didn’t exist in his dictionary.
There was only "an eye for an eye."
But then again, Hagrid was Hagrid.
"So, what are you planning to do now?" Lynn asked, looking at him.
Hagrid sighed.
"I want to take advantage of the Christmas holiday and try persuading them again."
Lynn’s eyes lit up.
"Count me in."
Hagrid shook his head without the slightest hesitation.
"No, it’s too dangerous." His voice rose slightly. "Dumbledore—"
"Dumbledore will agree," Lynn interrupted, sounding completely certain.
With that, Lynn called Dumbledore.
The phone rang several times before someone picked up.
"Mr. Lynn, what is it?"
Dumbledore’s voice came through the receiver, still as gentle and calm as ever—and sounding very much like he had just woken up.
"I’m going to the giant tribe with Hagrid," Lynn said calmly. "We’re going to try persuading them again."
Dumbledore: "???"
"Child, what happened between you and the giants? Did they provoke you?"
Lynn’s mouth twitched.
"How could that be? Headmaster, you’re overthinking things. I’m simply worried that Hagrid will be beaten up by the giants again, so I’m going along to protect him."
"I see..." Dumbledore pondered the matter for a moment. "Protect Hagrid well, and don’t—"
Beep—beep—beep—
Lynn hung up immediately.
He didn’t need to hear the rest to know exactly what Dumbledore had been about to say.
Putting away his Magic Phone, Lynn turned toward Hagrid.
"Dumbledore agreed."
Hagrid looked at him suspiciously.
"Did Dumbledore have anything else to say?"
"Did he?" Lynn tilted his head. "I didn’t notice."
Hagrid was rendered speechless once again.
"When are we leaving?" Lynn asked.
Hagrid thought for a moment.
"The day after tomorrow," he replied. "I need two days to prepare—prepare food, prepare equipment, and prepare... mentally."
Lynn nodded.
He had nothing in particular to prepare. He would simply grab his trunk and leave.
Tonks stood off to the side, watching the two of them talk while feeling like a complete outsider.
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