Kyle's Decision

When things outside gradually quieted down, Kyle and the others left the pitch-black Knockturn Alley with Mr. Fortescue.

All the Death Eaters had been captured—twenty-five in total, no small number.

It was clear they had come to Diagon Alley for something big. Aside from abducting several shopkeepers, they might have been planning some larger operation.

But whatever they had intended, it was doomed to fail now.

Scrimgeour was tallying the Auror casualties, while Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and the other Order of the Phoenix members who had come to help were counting the Death Eaters and matching them to their wands.

"This is a complete victory!" Fred said with a grin. "Thanks to your information, Kyle, Voldemort must be furious this time."

"I already said the information didn't come from me. It came from a righteous wizard who wished to remain anonymous," Kyle said solemnly.

He was becoming more and more valuable in Voldemort's eyes. What if Voldemort lost his temper one day and came after him personally...? For his own safety, it was better to take credit for as little as possible.

Kyle walked to the entrance of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. "Mr. Fortescue, do you know why the Death Eaters wanted to capture you?"

"That's what I'd like to know too." Fortescue was equally baffled. He was just an ice cream seller—how had he become a Death Eater target? It couldn't possibly be because they wanted his secret ice cream recipes, could it?

Even if that was the case, were those recipes really worth sending over twenty Death Eaters to steal? Wasn't that a little excessive?

If they had just told him in advance, there would have been no need for the Death Eaters to do anything. He would have handed over the recipes himself—any flavour they wanted.