"I never thought Dumbledore's suspicions would actually be true—Voldemort really is still alive... Sigh, it's just been one three-year stint after another. I have no idea when this will finally end."
Victor Wick's cold, grim expression vanished in an instant, and he reverted back into a bright, cheerful young man.
*Snap!* Victor snapped his fingers. A blurry figure suddenly appeared in the driver's seat of the coupe behind him, driving the car away from the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.
As for Victor himself, he stepped into a secluded alleyway nearby. As a sequence of runes flashed beneath his feet, his figure vanished on the spot with a sharp crack...
...
Knockturn Alley.
Borgin and Burkes.
Caractacus Burke sat behind the counter, intently studying a playing card he had acquired a couple of days ago.
It was the King of Hearts. Naturally, anything appearing in his shop could not possibly be ordinary.
The card pulsed with a dangerous aura of Dark Magic, but he had yet to figure out exactly what kind of curse it carried.
He needed to understand the curse before he could sell it for a good price.
Otherwise, no dark wizard would be willing to purchase a Dark Magic artifact with unknown effects.
*Cling-clang!*
The shop door was pushed open. Burke looked up, but before he could voice a welcome, his expression froze, and a flicker of fear flashed in his eyes.
"Good day, Mr. Burke." Victor walked up to the counter, looking at Burke with a smile.
Though his smile was gentle, Burke only felt a chill deep in his soul...
From what he knew, this Mr. Wick was a truly ruthless character.
Back when he was a Death Eater, he had been exceptionally vicious, earning the profound trust of the Dark Lord.
Word was that he would wear this same gentle smile even while flaying people alive.
Yet, despite being such an atrocious villain, he hadn't been locked up in Azkaban after the Dark Lord's fall.
He had even managed to get Dumbledore to vouch for him, leading the Headmaster's supporters to believe he was some kind of hero...
This had become the greatest unsolved mystery of the wizarding world over the past decade. It was also a testament to how terrifying this man was—certainly not someone a person like Burke could afford to provoke.
Burke didn't dare be disrespectful and immediately put on a standard, professional smile.
"Ah! Mr. Wick! A most welcome surprise!"
"Regarding the batch of goods I provided you previously..."
"Oh! Of course! You're here for the payment!" Burke slapped his own forehead and hurriedly pulled a large bag of Galleons from behind the counter, placing it on the surface. "That batch of yours? I've already sold it all through special channels! Here are five thousand Galleons. Please, count them."
"Oh? Sold them all so quickly?" Victor took the bag and gave it a light toss, looking at Mr. Burke thoughtfully.
Mr. Burke nodded firmly. "That's right! Every single item!"
In reality, while the goods Victor had brought in were valuable, they couldn't possibly have been cleared so fast, even through specialized channels.
However... since Victor had shown up in person, they were sold! They simply had to be sold!
Victor saw the flicker of terror in Mr. Burke's eyes and understood exactly what was going on.
He chose not to call him out, however, simply saying with a smile, "Very good. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. As for counting... there is no need. I trust you wouldn't lie to me."
Hearing this, Mr. Burke breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Of course! Integrity is everything in business, especially in our line of work. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth the risk of being greeted by a dozen Killing Curses the moment you step outside."
Even though he had paid Victor out of his own pocket, those goods would eventually sell—it would just take time. Overall, once everything was gone, he wouldn't lose money; he might even turn a profit.
For now, the priority was to safely see this deadly presence out of his shop!
"Good. The next time I have a haul like this, I'll bring it to you again. I won't short you a single Nut on your commission."
"It would be an honor, Mr. Wick!" Mr. Burke replied, looking appropriately flattered.
Dealing with such a person was dangerous and nerve-wracking, but it was certainly lucrative!
"Oh? This card is quite interesting." Victor's gaze fell upon the King of Hearts.
Mr. Burke glanced at the card and said hurriedly, "It is indeed interesting. I can sense a very complex Dark Magic curse on it, but... I've only just acquired it and haven't quite figured out what the curse actually does."
"May I have a look?" Victor asked.
"Oh... of course! It would be my pleasure!" Burke didn't dare refuse.
Victor gave a slight wave, and the King of Hearts floated up. He tapped it gently with his index finger, and rows of complex Ancient Rune sequences drifted out from the card.
He had studied alchemy under an old acquaintance for a time, so he was confident in his ability to decipher the secrets of such Dark Magic artifacts.
"Luck... price... all-in..." Victor muttered, frowning.
"I see." A moment later, Victor waved away the runes. "I have a general idea of what this card does. It really is quite fascinating."
"What kind of curse is it, if I may ask?" Mr. Burke's curiosity outweighed his fear.
Having dealt in Dark Magic artifacts for years, he was genuinely fascinated by such things.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. What if he annoyed this temperamental, ruthless man?
However, Victor didn't seem angry. Instead, he explained the curse's effect. "It is a gambling card, Mr. Burke. As long as you hold this card and initiate a bet with someone, you are guaranteed to win. However... you will pay a price. The magnitude of that price depends on the stakes of the bet. It might just be a few days of bad luck, or... it could cost you your life."
"That powerful!?" Mr. Burke stared at the card in shock. "How is that even possible?"
"The curse emitted by this card silently influences the opponent's mind, causing them to make the wrong choice at critical moments. As long as the opponent keeps making mistakes, you cannot lose," Victor explained. "Of course, that assumes the opponent doesn't know you have the card and is off their guard."
"I see..." Mr. Burke's excitement began to cool.
According to his years of experience, the more powerful a Dark Magic artifact's effect, the higher the price the user had to pay.
Therefore, this card was likely only useful for saving one's life in a dire situation.
"I'm actually quite interested in this card. Are you willing to sell it?" Victor asked.
"Sell it? No! If you like it, please, take it as a gift! You frequent my shop so often and have made me quite a lot of money. How could I possibly charge you for such a little trinket?" Mr. Burke smiled fawnishly.
The card might have fetched a good price, but Victor brought far greater profits. If Victor liked it, he might as well give it to him to curry favor.
"How could I do that? Things aren't like they used to be." Victor opened his money bag, and two hundred Galleons floated out, forming a pile of gold on the counter.
Mr. Burke's face lit up at the sight of the two hundred Galleons. He had only paid eighty Galleons for the card!
Even with its use explained, he would likely have listed it for around that price anyway.
"This..." However, Burke remained rational. He didn't dare take the money immediately and appeared quite hesitant.
"As I said, things are different now." Victor looked at Mr. Burke with a deep, inscrutable gaze.
"Ah! I understand! Indeed, things are different now!" Mr. Burke caught Victor's meaning instantly and hurriedly swept the small pile of Galleons into a drawer.
Victor was no longer a Death Eater! He was a public hero! Not taking the money would be the same as refusing to acknowledge his current identity!
"I'm glad you understand, Mr. Burke," Victor said with a smile.
Mr. Burke returned the smile radiantly.
As he watched Victor's retreating figure, Burke's smile gradually faded, replaced by a look of deep wariness.
'This man has fooled Dumbledore. He has fooled everyone...'
'He has been a Death Eater through and through this whole time!'
'What kind of decent person has so many Dark Magic artifacts to sell?'
'None of those goods were obtained through honest means... Heaven only knows which ancient ruins he has looted, or which pure-blood family's vault he has plundered.'
'Thank goodness the Dark Lord is dead!'
'Otherwise, a man like Victor Wick wouldn't have to endure such humiliation, paying full price for a Dark Magic artifact just to maintain his heroic image.'
...
Outside the shop.
Victor stood on the grimy street of Knockturn Alley, looking up at the azure sky and letting out a soft sigh of relief.
'Alright. Now, the image of a man working tirelessly to rehabilitate his reputation while enduring humiliation—all to keep himself useful for the Dark Lord's return—is finally taking root in the dark wizarding community. It wasn't for nothing that I've been patronizing this guy's business all these years.'
Indeed, at the end of the war, when Dumbledore told him that Voldemort might still be alive, he had prepared himself for a second long-term undercover mission...
"This job... really isn't for a human... If I had a choice, I'd like to have a house, facing the sea, where the flowers of spring bloom..."