Marcel keenly sensed that something had happened. He immediately looked up, frowning as he scanned his surroundings.
He saw that everyone, as if suddenly remembering something urgent they had to do, was quickly scattering and leaving the street in different directions.
"A Muggle-Repelling Charm?" Marcel murmured.
Luna, sitting across from him, also looked around curiously. She saw that the previously bustling scene had vanished like a dream. Even the shops and stalls along the street were closing up or packing away. Soon, the area became deserted.
"Let's go hide over there."
Marcel pulled Luna along, ignoring the things they had left on the table, and hurried toward a nearby open-air café. It had an iron fence and a row of low holly bushes, a good place to hide without being easily discovered.
"Using a Muggle-Repelling Charm on such a large scale... something big must have happened," he said, having Luna hide in the innermost part of the bushes while he pushed some of the foliage aside to peek out.
Before long, several people who looked like wizards emerged from an inconspicuous alley across the street. They looked around, then immediately drew their wands and spread out in an organized fashion, as if searching for something.
"Could they be Aurors from the Ministry?" Marcel secretly guessed, seeing how well-trained they were.
They searched quickly and efficiently. Soon, one of them approached their hiding spot. Marcel was unsure whether to use a Fae-Fade Potion on himself and Luna. After all, he had hidden instinctively, and suddenly running out now seemed inappropriate.
He was wearing Muggle clothes today. Although he had brought some potions out of his ever-prepared habit, it wasn't convenient to carry many. He only had a few vials on him now, and he really didn't want to use them unless absolutely necessary.
Most importantly, they were money!
Just as he reached into his pocket and his fingers touched a vial, he felt something hard press against the back of his head.
In the next instant, the wizard who had been searching outside had already entered through the gate.
Just as Marcel was frowning and considering his options, he felt a strong push from behind—he was shoved out into the open.
However, the hard object was still pressed against his head, preventing him from making any sudden moves. He knew it had to be the tip of a wand.
"Hands up! Both hands!" Marcel immediately complied.
The wizard who had just entered also pointed his wand at Marcel, a puzzled expression on his face. After all, Marcel looked like just a child in his early teens.
The man took out a magical device that looked like an eyepiece, held it to his eye, and looked at Marcel, but he didn't seem to find anything unusual.
Just as Marcel thought the man would ask him something, the man decisively uttered an incantation.
"Obliviate."
Damn it, he had forgotten he was dressed as a Muggle child!
With no other choice, Marcel immediately rolled to the side and smoothly drew his own wand from his sleeve.
"Expelliarmus!"
Marcel didn't aim at the wizard casting the Memory Charm on him, but at the mysterious figure still hiding in the holly bushes.
Bang!
A jet of red light shot out, sending leaves flying everywhere. A figure simultaneously sprang out of the bushes. The person's reaction was clearly very fast; he had dodged Marcel's Disarming Charm.
But Marcel had achieved his goal. He had forced the person out.
"He was the one holding me hostage. I think he's the person you're looking for," Marcel said calmly and quickly, then raised his wand again with a deft flick. "Impedimenta."
"Stupefy," the first wizard said, quickly grasping the situation and coordinating with Marcel by casting a spell of his own.
Under the combined, rapid assault of the two, the opponent had no time to react and was stunned before he could even defend himself.
"Good reaction time. Are you a Hogwarts student?" the wizard asked, glancing at Marcel before carefully scanning the surroundings again. "Don't let your guard down. There should be more than one of them."
"Yes, and my comp—"
Before he could finish the word "companion," Marcel saw Luna walk out. And behind her, there was a woman.
The woman pointed her wand at Luna's neck, looking nervously in their direction.
"Don't move! Or I'll—" the woman threatened, poking Luna's pale neck with her wand, her voice trembling.
"A bad situation," the wizard behind Marcel said with a frown.
"Drop your wands on the ground!" the woman shrieked. "Throw them far away!"
Luna, in her grasp, still had her usual dreamy, absent-minded look, seemingly unaware of her role as a hostage. She just quietly looked at Marcel.
As the woman was speaking, three more wizards ran in from outside—the companions of the man behind Marcel.
"Nobody move!" the woman became even more nervous, her shrill voice sounding like it was about to tear. "Drop them! Throw away your wands, now! Far away!"
After a tense standoff, Marcel was the first to throw his wand away. He had no choice. He couldn't gamble with Luna's life.
With the first, the second naturally followed. Soon, all five of them had thrown their wands far away.
Seeing that all the wands were gone, the woman suddenly ducked behind Luna. Everyone except Luna instantly realized what she was about to do—she was going to Apparate!
Marcel's eyes narrowed, a dangerous light glinting within them.
Behind him, the four wizards were scrambling for their wands, but the tell-tale distortion of Apparition was already appearing behind Luna. It was too late!
"Avada Kedavra!" CRASH!
Marcel suddenly pulled a potion vial from his pocket, threw it at his feet with all his might, and shouted the incantation.
"Oh no—" a small scream was heard from behind Luna.
"What?" "What happened?" "The Killing Curse!"
Marcel heard the shocked and confused shouts from behind him, but he had no time to pay them any mind. He ran to Luna at once.
He first looked behind Luna and saw a foot on the ground, including the ankle part. He knew that his spur-of-the-moment little trick had yielded a good result.
"Are you okay, Luna?" Marcel looked Luna up and down, checking her over and over for any injuries.
Luna shook her head slightly and gave a calm smile. "I'm fine."
It was only now, when the group of wizards had gathered and saw the situation, that they fully understood what had happened.
It turned out that Marcel's sudden shout had been a bluff. He had used the opponent's nervousness and fear of the Killing Curse to distract her at the moment of Apparition, causing her to lose concentration and Splinch herself.
To be honest, even the other wizards had been scared. The Killing Curse was the most terrifying of the three Unforgivable Curses. Anyone who had a deep understanding of it would feel a fear that came from the bottom of their heart. After all, even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had once reveled in this fearsome curse.
"I was just scaring her," Marcel said casually while carefully checking on Luna.
"Search immediately! It looks like the suspect will be impeded by blood loss. This is a good opportunity," one of the wizards said to the others, looking at the foot on the ground.
"We'll go contact the others. You stay here and handle the scene. Oh, and see these two kids off. They did a great service today," another wizard said with a smile.
With that, three of them Apparated away with the still-unconscious man, leaving only the wizard Marcel had first encountered.
"Hello, kids," he said, looking at Marcel with great interest. "Are you Hogwarts students?"
"Oh, yes, sir," Marcel said, turning around and nodding after confirming Luna was unharmed. "I presume you and your partners are Aurors from the Ministry?"
"Haha, yes. My name is Kevin," the man replied with a smile. "Today was truly unexpected. I never thought I'd run into a young genius."
He paused, then asked as if he had just thought of something, "Could it be that you're the Boy-Who-Lived? If so, then what happened today is not so surprising. After all, even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated by you. Compared to that, today was just a small incident."
Marcel quickly waved his hands.
"No, I'm not. But I am his friend," he said. "My name is Marcel Maclean. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Oh! How rude of me," Kevin said apologetically. "You see, that boy is so famous, he was the first person I thought of."
"And this lovely young lady?" he asked, turning to Luna. But Luna was looking elsewhere, not listening to him at all.
Marcel looked at Luna and answered on her behalf with a wry smile, "She is Luna Lovegood. If all goes well, she should be starting at Hogwarts next year."
"Oh, that's wonderful," Kevin said. "I went to Hogwarts too. I was a Ravenclaw."
As he spoke, he walked over to the severed foot, taking out a black evidence bag.
"Let me just clean this up, and then I'll see you home," he said. "It's getting a little late. It's not safe for children to be out—"
"Oh! I forgot. You're a young genius. You should be fine under normal circumstances," Kevin suddenly joked.
"Perhaps, after you graduate, you could apply to the Ministry for Auror training. I believe you would become an unprecedentedly excellent Auror... but be sure to watch out for the trick questions in the N.E.W.T. exams! You know, I almost didn't pass back in my day. It's still the thing I'm most grateful for."
A short while later, after gathering all the information from the scene, Kevin waved his wand to lift the Muggle-Repelling Charm and escorted Marcel and Luna away.