#136 - Head in hands

Wilkes shook his head, which throbbed like a pot of glue, and gradually opened his eyes. In a daze, he saw a scene he would never forget: a dimly lit, dilapidated house, with several people squatting in the corner. After careful identification, he realized that this was the very house where they had planned to ambush Anduin! The squatting figures were his former companions, and, strangely, Yaxley was among them.

His gaze shifted, and he saw a handsome young man looking at him indifferently. This was… this was Anduin! Wilkes finally realized that everything that had happened before was not a dream.

Seeing Anduin staring at him, Wilkes quickly sat up and groped around his body, trying to pull out his wand to retaliate. In the previous battle, he had only managed to cast one spell before losing consciousness. Unfortunately, fate was not on his side. After searching for a long time, he found that not only was his wand missing, but even the bottle of Essence of Dittany he had prepared was gone.

"Awake? If you're awake, get up, put your hands on your head, and squat down," Anduin shouted sternly, looking at the bewildered Wilkes.

Wilkes opened his mouth, completely unable to react to what had happened. Of course, it wasn't his fault. He had fainted at the very beginning of the battle and was the most seriously injured. He was also the last to wake up. Being hit by more than a dozen spells was no easy feat.

Seeing that Wilkes hadn't responded, Anduin kicked him and shouted again, "Didn't you hear me? Get up, put your hands on your head and squat down! Haven't you seen your companions squatting?"

Wilkes glanced at his companions squatting in the corner. They all had deathly expressions on their faces. He had no choice but to follow suit obediently.

"Good, it seems everyone is awake now. It's time for a chat," Anduin said, looking around at the squatting crowd.

"Anduin, we've been defeated this time. You've taken our wands. What else do you want?" Yaxley raised his head, his eyes filled with resentment as he stared at Anduin.

"You're asking me what I want? I'd like to ask you what you want," Anduin sneered.

Then, Anduin walked to Wilkes, who had just squatted down, grabbed him forcefully, and said softly, "I'm just a little wizard who wants to study honestly at the academy, but I'm inexplicably discriminated against by you. That's not right, is it?"

Wilkes, whose shoulder was being squeezed tightly, was completely dumbfounded. Yaxley was the one arguing with you, why the hell are you pinching me? He didn't know how to respond to Anduin's words and could only look at Yaxley blankly. But instantly, he felt the right hand clamping his shoulder suddenly tighten, and he winced in pain, shaking his head at Anduin repeatedly.

"Hmm, being discriminated against by you isn't enough. You're the ones who keep causing me trouble, you're the ones who are stalking me. Targeting me like this isn't right, is it?" Anduin glanced at Wilkes and then looked around at the crowd, his sharp eyes causing them to lower their heads.

Wilkes felt another sharp pain in his shoulder and had to shake his head again.

"Okay, I've tolerated you time and time again. You've forced me to not even be able to leave Hogwarts. I come out to spend Christmas, and you still ambush me. That's even less right, isn't it?"

"Ouch!" Wilkes couldn't bear the pain any longer and cried out, looking at Anduin with a terrified expression, shaking his head like a dice cup.

"So, as a victim and a poor little wizard who has been oppressed for a long time, it's only natural for me to collect some protection fees from you, right?"

Anduin released Wilkes, narrowed his eyes, and coldly stared at the squatting crowd.

Rozier, who was also mixed in the crowd with his hands on his head, felt a chill in his heart when he heard Anduin's words. This guy wasn't satisfied with just scamming me; he was even planning to target all the little wizards! Then, a burst of schadenfreude rose in his heart. Why should I be the only one who's unlucky? We might as well all die together.

Yaxley next to him couldn't understand Anduin's words at all and asked in confusion, "What do you mean, what protection fee? And you're portraying yourself as a victim, but we're the ones squatting here now!"

"What I mean is that your so-called committee is hereby disbanded, and each of you must pay me 20 Galleons a month in protection fees or equivalent items. Potions, books, materials, or alchemical ingredients will all do," Anduin explained calmly, word by word.

"What? This is extortion!" Yaxley exclaimed in shock, objecting.

"How can this be extortion? How can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air? I'm clearly extorting!" Anduin corrected.

Yaxley's face turned red with anger, and he stood up in protest, "You dare to be so confident, openly extorting so many little wizards! Reporting you to the headmaster would be enough to get you expelled! This is impossible! Kill us if you have the guts! Do you dare?"

"I don't dare to kill people, but I'm very sure you do. Didn't you just cast the Killing Curse on me in public? Are you still thinking of reporting to the headmaster? Do you want me to report to Headmaster Dumbledore about your attack on fellow students, or your use of the Avada Kedavra curse? You wouldn't not know the consequences of using an Unforgivable Curse, would you?

Using the Killing Curse on someone without authorization makes you the principal offender, and they are accomplices. Now that I have your wand, do you need me to use a Memory Charm to prove it?" Anduin didn't pay attention to Yaxley, who had stood up. He just scanned the crowd and continued to pressure him in a slow and cold tone.

'Hiss,' the surrounding little wizards gasped when they heard Anduin's words. As an extremely evil and cruel magic, the Unforgivable Curse, if used on a person without authorization from the British Ministry of Magic, will be sent to Azkaban for life imprisonment.

Yaxley? How dare he? Using this kind of curse secretly when no one is around, and no one finds out, is one thing, but using it publicly is simply courting death. Now they're in trouble. A group of wizards illegally gathered, intending to murder a Muggle wizard. They could already imagine tomorrow's headline in The Daily Prophet. They were really screwed over by Yaxley.

Yaxley's face was pale. He quickly looked around at the squatting crowd, opened his mouth, trying to explain something, and also wanted to see if there was anyone willing to support him.

But the surrounding little wizards were all silent. Many of them joined the committee just to enjoy a superior status, which Yaxley had promised them. Bullying Muggle and half-blood wizards was one thing, but killing people? They wouldn't dare even if they had eight guts.