While Lynn was selecting materials for alchemy, Irina quickly picked out the snacks she wanted and headed to the counter at Honeydukes to pay.
Irina's limited funds didn't allow her to choose too many delicious treats.
After paying and exiting Honeydukes, Irina hummed cheerfully and skipped toward the agreed meeting spot.
However, as she made her way back, Envee popped out of her bag and tugged forcefully at Irina's sleeve.
"What's the matter, Envee?" Irina asked, confused, as she looked at the small green figure perched on her shoulder.
Envee seemed very anxious. She pointed at Irina's pocket and then behind her.
Irina's pocket had somehow opened, and behind her was a Niffler frantically escaping with a sack in its mouth.
"Damn it! My silver Sickles!" Irina immediately panicked. Inside the sack were the sixteen silver Sickles she had received as change when she paid.
Realizing how many chocolates she could have bought with that amount, Irina instantly gave chase to the thief. However, as she ran, she also used her wand to cast an Ice Charm, marking her position so Lynn wouldn't get worried when he couldn't find her.
But after all, Irina was only a second-year student and didn't have the physical strength of an adult wizard. Plus, the Niffler was faster on all fours, and the distance between them kept increasing, even though Irina cast an acceleration charm, which proved futile.
Just when Irina thought she wouldn't catch up to the creature, the Niffler turned a corner and ran into a dead-end alley.
Irina was delighted and quickly caught up.
However, when she reached the corner of the alley, the sounds coming from within stopped her.
She peeked cautiously inside.
There, she saw four masked wizards sitting in the alley. As the Niffler approached them, it placed the sack of money in their mouths.
"Brother, what you said earlier was absolutely right. Training a Niffler really brings in a steady flow of wealth!"
"Yeah, when we used to steal in Knockturn Alley, we had to worry about being caught by the Aurors. But now, it's impossible for the Aurors to catch a Niffler, right?"
"The Aurors have nothing to do with the Niffler, that's the Magical Creatures Regulation and Control Department's problem!"
"Third brother, stop being ridiculous. How could those people from the Department of Magical Creatures Regulation care about us?"
"..."
Hearing the words of the four wizards, Irina was suddenly a bit confused.
Clearly, these four wizards were dark wizards from Knockturn Alley, and the Niffler was a magical creature they had trained to do their dirty work—stealing money in Hogsmeade.
Is this... treasure sniffing theft?
Irina thought in disbelief.
She knew many wizards might choose to raise a Niffler, like Mr. Newt Scamander had a companion Niffler, but she never expected someone to adopt such a twisted method and use a Niffler as a tool for stealing.
Well, this... this is really professional-level work!
However, let's not discuss whether what these dark wizards did was right or wrong—what they said did make some sense!
As far as the Ministry of Magic goes, the Auror Office might still be useful, but isn't the Magical Creatures Regulation and Control Department just a waste of space?
"But no matter what, that's no reason to steal my money!" Irina fumed when she thought about how the Niffler had stolen the silver Sickles she had worked so hard to save. She immediately raised her wand and cast a silent Freeze Charm on one of the dark wizards.
Before acting, Irina assessed the combat power between herself and the opponent. Since she could cast silent spells without a wand and the enemies were just a group of ordinary dark wizards, she felt she had the advantage.
The four dark wizards didn't expect Irina's presence at all. Her silent Freeze Charm hit one of them, freezing him into a block of ice.
"Damn it, we've been spotted! Fourth brother has been cursed!"
"What are you afraid of? It's just a little witch. She looks like she escaped from Hogwarts!"
The remaining three dark wizards immediately launched counterattacks at Irina. They had managed to sneak into Knockturn Alley and escape unscathed, so naturally, these dark wizards were no pushovers and cast Dark Magic toward Irina.
Irina dodged the spells from the three dark wizards, regretting not asking Lynn for advice on how to cast the Iron Armor Charm the night before.
If she had known the Iron Armor Charm, she could have resisted the attacks from these three dark wizards and subdued them one by one.
"Falling unconscious! Destruction weapons! Shattered to pieces!" Irina waved her wand and cast three consecutive spells, each hitting one of the dark wizards.
The green girl on Irina's shoulder also took advantage of the fact that the three dark wizards weren't paying attention. Envee silently jumped off Irina's shoulder and snuck up behind them.
"Is this a second- or third-year witch?!" The dark wizard known as Lao San's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Irina's impressive spellcasting skills.
Seeing that Irina's Coma Spell was about to hit the third brother, the leading dark wizard quickly cast the Iron Armor Charm, blocking Irina's magic.
At this, Irina's expression darkened.
That feeling of knowing the other side can use the Iron Armor Charm while I can't... it's really uncomfortable!
Helpless, Irina could only cast to the left and right, using a silent Freeze Charm with her left hand while her right hand, holding her wand, fired another Freeze Charm.
In a situation where she was outnumbered, Irina's best chance of winning was with her strongest Freeze Charm.
Her new wand, made of Ice Crystal wood and dragon heartstring fibers, already had an extremely high affinity with the ice element and powerful magical power. Coupled with Irina's own affinity for the ice element, the power of her Freeze Charm was geometrically increased.
More than a dozen Freeze Charms hit the dark wizard's Iron Armor spell, eventually shattering it, while the remaining Freeze Charms froze the dark wizard known as the Third Brother into an ice sculpture.
At the same time, Envee also walked behind the two remaining dark wizards. Envee jumped onto and tightly grabbed the legs of the dark wizard with hands as hard as tree branches.
"Ah!" The dark wizard suddenly screamed in pain, his right hand went limp, and the wand he was holding fell to the ground.
It's a taboo for wizards to lose their wands in battle! Irina seized the moment when his wand fell and severed his right arm with a cutting charm.
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