When Lynn rushed to Ian's side, Ian had just been struck by a Stunning Spell and collapsed unconscious.
The "person" who had attacked Ian was a short, ugly humanoid creature with pointed ears, huge eyes, loose, wrinkled skin, and a rag wrapped around its body!
This creature looked much like a goblin, yet differed in many subtle ways.
Lynn knew more about the wizarding world than Ian did. At a glance, he recognized it as an incredibly old house-elf.
The house-elf was now facing away from Lynn, gripping Ian's arm as though it intended to Disapparate with him.
"Stop!"
Lynn drew his wand.
Hearing Lynn's voice, the aged house-elf shuddered violently, as though startled.
He slowly turned around, his expression filled with grief, tears brimming in his ping-pong-ball-sized eyes.
"Y-young master says Kira should stop, so Kira stops."
The way it addressed him made Lynn's heart jolt.
He kept his wand raised as he slowly approached the house-elf called Kira.
"Who is your young master?" he asked in a low voice.
Kira knelt on the ground, clutching his enormous head in both hands as he cried out through sobs.
"It is Lynn Belloc! Lynn Belloc is Kira's young master!"
Kira's form of address all but confirmed one thing: at least one of Lynn's parents had come from a pure-blood family, and an exceptionally ancient one at that.
Only such families would keep creatures like house-elves.
After Lynn appeared, Kira seemed to have completely abandoned any thought of continuing to attack Ian or fleeing. He remained kneeling on the ground, weeping without pause.
"Were you also the one who attacked Hubert and Raphael?" Lynn had already come up beside Kira. He still did not let down his guard, pointing his wand at the elf's huge head from above.
"They were insulting