After asking his final question, Lewis fell silent.
The wizard named Ted looked at him pitifully, his eyes full of pleading, silently begging for mercy.
Both of them understood—now that the questions were over, it was time to decide his fate.
Lewis glanced at the man's pale face, took a deep breath, and raised his wand.
In an instant, the frost spread faster across Ted's body, engulfing him completely before he could even cry out.
"I know what your kind of poachers have done—mad enough to target wizards, Muggles, and magical creatures alike, as long as there's profit to be made. So don't blame me. This is what you deserve."
Lewis spoke coldly, more to himself than to the man.
It was both judgment—and justification.
"The ice won't kill you immediately. If you're lucky, you might last until I return. By then, that Auror might spare your life."
He chose not to kill.
Not because he couldn't.
After two lifetimes, there was little left he couldn't accept.
But because of the captured Auror.
From Ted's confession, she had only been disarmed and tied up, not tortured or abused.
That meant if he rescued her, he would immediately gain a capable ally.
Lewis knew his limits. Alone, he might not be able to deal with the remaining eight poachers in the ruins.
If he wanted the griffin-beak pendant—and the Scholar's Moonstone—he would likely need her help.
And no proper Auror would trust a child who killed without hesitation.
Freezing Ted instead of killing him was a calculated choice.
A good first impression for a potential ally.
Especially if that Auror was the person he suspected.
After dealing with Ted, Lewis cast Invisibility on himself once more and returned through the corridor to the room where the two had been drinking.
Just as he arrived, a blond, hook-nosed man stumbled out, swaying drunkenly with a cup in hand, shouting in his thick accent:
"Ted! Ted! Where the hell did you go? Got the guts to piss, but not to keep drinking?!"
"Don't tell me you ran off just to avoid losing to me!"
Lewis stood invisible, completely undetectable.
With alcohol dulling the man's senses, the distance between them shrank to less than twenty centimeters—and still, the man noticed nothing.
Seeing how careless he was, Lewis relaxed.
This time, he didn't even bother with magic.
He stepped forward, snatched the wand straight from the man's hand, and kicked him to the ground.
Only then did he calmly cast a freezing ray to immobilize him.
The sudden cold finally snapped the drunken wizard—Darcy—back to reality.
He stared at the boy in terror, unable to form a single coherent word.
Lewis remained expressionless, looking down at him from above. His young voice carried chilling authority.
"You guessed right. Your companion is already in my hands. I've learned quite a bit from him."
"Now let's play a little game. I'll ask questions. If your answers don't match his… one of you will regret ever being born."
Darcy stared at the child before him, his eyes filled with fear.
What kind of monster had they run into?
A child in appearance—but speaking like a demon.
Lewis repeated the same questions he had asked Ted.
Darcy didn't dare hide anything. He poured out everything he knew.
The answers matched almost perfectly.
"You're smart, Darcy. You didn't lie."
Lewis's lips curled into a cold smile, sending another shiver through the man.
"In that case… sir, will you spare us?" Darcy asked hopefully, clinging to a fragile thread of hope.
But he underestimated Lewis.
Lewis shook his head—and cast Frost Nova again.
Within moments, Darcy was frozen solid, just like his companion.
Lewis didn't forget to search him.
Between the two of them, he found nearly a hundred Galleons.
Truly, robbery paid well.
Even better, he obtained a dragonhide wallet enchanted with an Extension Charm.
The very one Darcy had been bragging about.
The internal space wasn't large—about one cubic meter—but it was enough to store supplies.
Of course, not every container could be like Newt Scamander's suitcase, capable of holding an entire zoo.
Next, instead of immediately searching for the captured Auror, Lewis thoroughly searched the room.
As expected, this was the poachers' temporary camp—their storage area.
He gathered more valuables: several Ashwinder eggs, a bundle of Jobberknoll feathers, and various magical materials, stuffing them all into his new wallet.
With his loot secured, Lewis turned invisible again and moved deeper into the ruins, following the directions he had extracted from the two men.
After passing through two collapsed stone doors, he entered another circular hall.
This time, instead of going straight ahead, he chose the side door.
Behind the decayed door lay a narrow, pitch-black chamber.
No torches. No light.
Lewis flicked his wand.
"Lumos."
A small orb of light drifted forward into the darkness, while he himself remained at the entrance, hidden in shadow.
This way, anything illuminated would be visible to him—
But he would remain unseen.
Fortunately, the information he'd gathered was accurate.
There were no enemies inside.
At the far end of the room, the light revealed a single figure—bound tightly like a cocoon—staring at the glowing orb in surprise.
A young woman.
Around twenty years old.
She had a delicate, heart-shaped face, dark eyes that gleamed under the light, and most striking of all—a cascade of shoulder-length pink hair.
Nymphadora Tonks.
The only known Metamorphmagus in the original story. A future member of the Order of the Phoenix. Remus Lupin's lover.
Lewis had already guessed her identity during the interrogation.
Her features were too distinctive.
But seeing her in person still made his eyes brighten slightly.
She was far more beautiful than in the films.
At least, the books never mentioned a large nose.
And the Tonks before him—
Fit his aesthetic perfectly.
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