Early in the morning two days later, Ivan was eating a bacon sandwich when he felt a chill and looked up to see a grim-faced Alicia.
"What's going on?"
Alicia slammed a newspaper down on the table.
Yvonne glanced at it and saw that it was not a newspaper of his acquaintance. It was supposed to be unique to Knockturn Alley, but that was obviously not the point.
The main point was that on the cover of the newspaper, there was a moving picture of Doggett using magic to drag five law-enforcement officers through the Wizarding Market without any attempt at concealment. As he walked, one could vaguely sense the aura of a powerhouse…
The eagle-eyed Ivan could even see two black-robed enforcers standing guard at the corner of the moving picture. They did not even dare to stop Dougett as he approached.
Below the diagram was an exaggerated account of Doggett's battle against five law-enforcement officers.
A quick glance told Ivan that the newspaper's editor didn't know the real story. It was based on Douggart's boasting, as well as the Wizarding Market's snippets and guesses.
'But… who was the one who said something about hiding the news?'
Yvonne felt she should never have trusted that bastard Dougett. Now she was in the headlines of Knockturn Alley…
"So, when you went to the Wizarding Market that day, in addition to buying things, you caused a scene and beat down five law-enforcement officers… You didn't even tell me when you came back!" Alicia said angrily, slamming the table.
"To be precise, it was Doggett who started it, and he was the one who hit her…" Ivan blinked innocently.
"Take a look at this yourself?" Alicia pointed to the fifth line of the newspaper.
It clearly stated that the young wizard who had been with Dougett had easily defeated an adult wizard in the Wizarding Market. The newspaper's editor even wrote about this in a large handbook, with a single small page placed under the cover.
After all, this was an extremely rare occurrence.
Ivan was annoyed. He had forgotten that he had once intervened in the Wizarding Market, and the five Enforcers had been able to make Dougert erase his memory with a Memory Charm, but this wizard was an exception.
In response to Alicia's questioning look, Ivan told her everything that had happened, along with the fact that he had performed some minor support work.
At that moment, the sound of a bell hanging outside the door interrupted Alicia's train of thought.
"I'm going to answer the door. I'll ask you after you've eaten," said Alicia, and she went downstairs.
Ivan was relieved. He had to think about what to say later.
But it's not even open yet. Who's coming at this hour?
With a thought, Ivan waved his wand, and the Unicorn's Shadow reappeared.
After a period of practice, he had become more adept at it, and when he released it, it did not produce a series of hissing sounds like before.
Because maintaining his ethereal form did not consume much magic power, Ivan used this method to patrol the area to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
The Unicorn's Shadow passed through the wall and easily spotted the figure at the door. Ivan's mouth twitched…
Why was he here?
…
On the first floor, in the Dark Arts shop, Alicia opens the door,
Outside the door was Doggett, whom he had not seen for a few days. Behind him was a large suitcase, the one that contained the Dementors.
"D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DDDD-DDDDD-D-DD-DD-DDD-DD-D-D-D
Doggett knew all about the newspaper and waved his hand, looking guilty.
"Althea, this is all my fault. If young Ivan hadn't intervened two days ago, I might have been caught by those enforcers."
Alicia was about to accuse Doggett of involving Ivan in a dangerous battle, but she froze when she heard him.
Didn't the newspaper say that he single-handedly killed five law enforcers?
It sounded as if Ivan had done it.
Alicia turned to look suspiciously up the stairs. She remembered someone saying that they were only doing minor support work…
"What, little Ivan didn't tell you?" Dagget asked when he saw what she was doing.
He had asked Ivan to keep the news to himself so that he could personally come to him to apologise after the matter was settled.
However, there were some discrepancies between the plan and the actual actions that followed. There was no way to hide such a big matter, so he decided to make a bigger deal out of it and blame it on himself. He thought Ivan would have told Alicia after the news came out.
"No, so what's going on?" Alicia ground out.
Dougster felt guilty and had no intention of hiding the truth. He recounted how he had drunk too much and caused a commotion at the Wizarding Market.
The use of the Unicorn's Shadow by Ivan during the battle still impressed Doggett.
"This is the first time I've ever known the Hales to have such a powerful charm. No wonder they used Dementors."
Did the Hales family have such a powerful charm? Why didn't I know?
Isiah was baffled, especially when Doggett claimed that the Evans had used a powerful charm similar to the Summoning Guard to take out several Enforcers without even having to show themselves.
It must be noted that the wizards of the Wizarding Market were professionally trained law-enforcement officers, and although they were somewhat inferior to the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, they were definitely superior to the average wizard.
"I don't think even that one could have done it at this age," muttered Doggett, remembering someone he feared.
"By the way, how come I've never seen you use this spell before?" Dougatt asked curiously.
"That's because I'm not very good at it, either…" said Isiah, looking bemused, but not denying the claim that Unicorn's Shadow was the Halles' inherited charm.
"That's true. Charms of this level also require talent." Dougster nodded, thinking that Isia was referring to the fact that Ivan was the only member of the House of Hales capable of such a mysterious and powerful spell.
Alicia was silent for a while. She didn't know how to deal with Dougett's imagination, so she turned and shouted upstairs.
"Ivan Hals!"
There was silence from upstairs. There was no reply. After a while, there was the sound of footsteps.
Ivan could hear Isiah talking to Doggett from upstairs, so he had to bite the bullet and go downstairs.
It was inappropriate for Alicia to ask directly in front of Dougatt. Instead, she shot Ivan an angry look, indicating that she wanted to know what was going on with the so-called powerful spell.
Yvonne gave him an innocent look in return.
Didn't you know before? My Puffsguard is a bit special…