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Late one night a few days later, all was silent.
Ring, ring—!!
The sharp, piercing ring of a telephone ruthlessly shattered the peace of the bedroom, forcibly dragging Lynn out of a dream where he was in a tug-of-war with a giant deep-sea fish.
"Ugh... who is it..." Lynn squinted his bleary eyes at the name dancing on the caller ID.
"Ellie?" (Chapter 71, shop assistant)
His heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
Lynn answered the phone.
"Boss! Something's wrong!" Ellie's terrified voice came through the receiver, with faint noises from a crowd in the background. "The shop... the shop was attacked! It's on fire! Everything's pitch black!"
"What?!" Lynn was instantly wide awake.
Attacking his shop? No... are they insane? Which blind lunatic is tired of living?!
"Wait there! I'm coming right now!" Before Lynn could even hear the rest of what Ellie had to say, he hung up the phone.
In the next moment, his wand was already in his hand.
Crack~
His figure vanished from the bedroom.
Almost simultaneously, Lynn appeared in Diagon Alley, which was thick with the acrid smell of smoke.
Lynn stood in front of his own shop, and the sight before him caused his pupils to shrink. The shopfront, which had once been bright and clean, was now a complete mess.
Charred marks spread inward from the doorframes and window edges; the window glass was gone, leaving only jagged, blackened frames.
The words 'Epoch-Making' on the signboard were blurred by soot. An odor of burnt wood, molten metal, and some pungent chemical substance permeated the air.
However, the other shops immediately adjacent to his were completely unharmed; even the dust on their windows remained untouched.
The precision of this attack was ridiculous, and the malice behind it was blatantly obvious.
Ellie was standing not far from the shop door, urgently explaining something to several people wearing Auror uniforms.
"...I really just remembered I left a draft of a stock list in the counter drawer and needed it for tomorrow, so I thought I'd come and get it tonight... I saw smoke and light as soon as I reached the alley entrance, and when I ran over... that was it! I swear!"
One Auror was taking notes in a book, while another used the glowing tip of his wand to check for magical residue on the shop's exterior walls.
Lynn suppressed the fury and countless questions in his heart and walked over quickly.
Seeing him, Ellie looked as if she'd seen a savior; her eyes reddened as she hurriedly stepped aside. "Boss!"
Lynn gave her a slight nod, signaling her to stay calm, then turned to the Aurors, trying to make his tone sound as composed as possible. "Good evening, gentlemen. I am the owner of this shop, Lynn. What happened here?"
The lead Auror sized Lynn up and briefly explained the situation:
About half an hour ago, patrolling Aurors and nearby residents noticed the fire here. The blaze had since been controlled by personnel from the Ministry of Magic's Accident Department, but the damage was already done.
Traces of suspected arson and Dark Arts residue had been found at the scene. Ellie, as the first witness, was undergoing routine questioning... After a brief conversation, the Aurors had tentatively ruled out Ellie as a suspect.
The lead Auror closed his notebook and offered a formulaic reassurance:
"Mr. Lynn, we understand how you feel right now. The Ministry of Magic will fully investigate this matter and will certainly bring the perpetrators to justice, to give all the business owners in Diagon Alley an explanation."
After speaking, he signaled his companions to prepare to head back to the Ministry to write their report.
"Please wait a moment, sir," Lynn called out to him.
The Auror captain turned around. "Is there anything else, Mr. Lynn?"
Lynn paused, then asked a question that sounded quite reasonable:
"If... I mean if, you catch the culprit, what kind of punishment would they usually face under the law?"
The Auror captain assumed the victim was simply looking for psychological comfort or trying to understand judicial procedures, so he explained professionally:
"For the felonies of intentional arson, destruction of commercial property, endangering public safety, and involvement with the Dark Arts, the usual sentence is long-term imprisonment in Azkaban, with the term depending on the specific circumstances and losses.
Additionally, the criminal must bear financial compensation to the victim, enforced by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Imprisonment in Azkaban, fines, and compensation.
Lynn remained silent for a moment after hearing this. "I understand. Thank you for the explanation."
"Then, we shall take our leave. Keep in touch; if you have any new clues, please inform us promptly." With that, the Aurors Apparated away.
Only Lynn and the still-shaken Ellie remained in the alley, along with the eyesore of the charred wreck before them.
"Ellie," Lynn turned to his employee, "thank you for your hard work tonight; you must have been terrified. Go home and rest. I'll handle things here at the shop. You don't need to come to work until the renovations are finished. Your salary will be paid as usual; consider it a paid vacation."
...As Ellie's figure disappeared around the corner of Diagon Alley, Lynn unhesitatingly pushed open the charred and deformed shop door, walked into the equally messy main hall, and headed straight for the hidden entrance leading to the basement.
Good, the golems are fine. At least there's some good news.
Inside the underground Alchemy Workshop, the light was bright and steady, and the air was clean. The hundred Alchemy Golems were still working quietly at their respective posts.
Lynn walked quickly through the orderly workshop area to a compartment specifically used for storing security records.
Several sophisticated alchemy devices were placed there, continuously recording and backing up images captured inside and outside the shop.
Lynn walked to the main control console and waved his wand.
A light screen unfolded in the air. The timeline was pulled back to the moment before the Aurors arrived, and then the footage rewound rapidly: the Aurors arriving, Ellie making the call... The image suddenly jerked to a stop, then switched to normal playback speed—the exact moment the attack began.
On the screen, the originally peaceful display counters and shelves inside the shop were suddenly illuminated by a burst of light coming from the front door!
Immediately afterward, two figures in hooded robes burst in. One was hunched, while the other looked short and fat; they went straight for the counter where the Galleons were kept.
The two tried everything they could, but couldn't open the cash box on the counter, and they clearly flew into a rage out of humiliation.
They waved their wands wildly, flinging flames at the shelves, counters, and decorations... Wherever the flames went, whether it was wood, metal, or alchemical products, everything was quickly ignited, emitting crackling popping sounds and black smoke.
Then—
One of them seemed to find his robe sleeves an obstacle to his wand movements and casually jerked his left sleeve up a bit.
But right there, on the inside of the man's forearm, a glaring pattern was exposed in the recording—a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth.
Lynn's eyes widened instantly upon seeing it.
Isn't that the damn Dark Mark?! Had he ever provoked Death Eaters? It didn't seem so...
"Damn it!"
Lynn waved his wand and closed the light screen.
Azkaban? Compensation? Who cares! That really... would be letting them off far too easily.